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Modern 
Painter's Cyclopedia 

SOME OF THE SUBJECTS: 

Adulteration of Paint, Blistering of Paint, Brushes, 
Calcimining, Carriage Painting, China Painting, 
Colors, Color Harmony, Color Mixing, Color Test- 
ing, Exterior Painting, Frescoing, Gilding, Graining, 
House Painting, Marbling, Oils and Driers, Oil 
Painting on Glass, Painting a Bath Tub, Painting in 
Distemper, Paperhanger's Tools, Paperhanging, 
Pigments, Scenic Painting, Sign Painting, Stains, 
Staining, Stenciling, Statuary Painting, Turpentine, 
Varnishes, Varnishing, Water Color Painting. 



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F. MAI RE 



OVER J 00 ILLUSTRATIONS 




CHICAGO 

FREDERICK J. DRAKE & COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 



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Copyright, 1918 and 1910 

By Frederick J. Drake & Co. 

Chicago 



.IIIN -7 1918 



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INTRODUCTION 



The Modern Painter's Cyclopedia is not merely the 
compiling and putting together the stale writings and 
antiquated methods which have been put to use by many 
persons to make up a book to sell, but has been com- 
pletely rewritten and the subject matter handled in 
such a way as to describe the latest methods used in 
performing the work. Owing to the great number of 
subjects handled the descriptions given are necessarily 
brief. The more important ones will be treated more 
at length than those of minor interest to the general 
reader, as for instance "China painting," etc; to treat 
the subject in a thorough manner would of itself fill a 
good sized volume, while the majority of readers would 
probably pass it by as of no interest to them, while they 
would naturally look for at least concise, full informa- 
tion on colors, house, carriage or sign painting and kin- 
dred subjects in which the big majority of readers are 
interested. 

The alphabetical arrangement of the "Painter's Cy- 
clopedia" has been preserved and the subject matter de- 
scribed will be found thus more readily. While this ar- 
rangement has many advantages, it must be admitted 
that it has its faults in that the various operations in 
painting are rather scattered without regard to sequence 

3 



4 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

or any gradation upward from the simpler to the more 
difficult parts. 

This defect has been greatly minimized by number- 
ing each paragraph and to keep them sufficiently pointed 
to differ from the preceding or succeeding ones. 
Throughout the work wherever the necessity occurs, 
reference by number will be made to such paragraphs 
in other parts of the book; this will make the subject 
matter more easily understood without the necessity of 
repeating; saving much space. Thus operations which 
are common to many branches of painting are only de- 
scribed once and the reader will be referred by number 
to where the additional information can be found. Tliis 
it is hoped will reduce the defect mentioned above to its 
lowest limits. 

Besides a very copious index has been prepared 
which will enable the reader to find readily every phase 
of any subject treated. 

To enable students to memorize or recollect the sub- 
ject matter of each heading, a series of questions will be 
found at the end numbered to correspond to that of the 
paragraphs containing the answer. This will enable 
the student to determine for himself the correctness of 
his own answer. 

As many persons no doubt will buy this book with a 
view to educating themselves upon one or more 
branches of the trade — in a manner it will take the 
place of the correspondence school to such — at a greatly 
reduced cost. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 5 

In organized, practical trade schools, it is hoped that 
it may prove a valuable help, not only to the students 
but also the instructors — in that under classified head- 
ings any or at least most of the subject matter relating 
to the branches taught will be found treated and the 
questions which are added at the end of each heading 
will permit its use as a text book in such schools. 

It makes no claim to be able to lead the student along 
as fast nor as well as he would under the personal sur- 
veillance and advice of a capable instructor who can 
demonstrate an error in a practical way — but where 
it is used as an adjunct to his oral instruction and as a 
book of reference by the student, it will greatly facili- 
tate the acquiring of knowledge. 

The lack of such a book for the purpose indicated 
above, is one of the main reasons for its publication — 
aside from the need of a manual covering the ground 
and subject matter treated in a late and up-to-date 
manner. 

Again it is repeated that many branches of painting 
require appliances, tools, colors, etc. To save repeti- 
tion, each of these are treated fully but once, under 
their several headings, and if the reader will care to 
inform himself more fully in regard to any of these, he 
can readily do so by referring to the paragraph num- 
ber indicated as describing such. 

With the above synopsis of the scope and manner of 
handling the subject matter of the book, it is presented 
to the world — not as the acme of perfection, which un- 



6 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

fortunately is unattainable, but as a helping hand to the 
student or others seeking general information on the 
paint and kindred trades — with the hope that many 
may be benefitted by its perusal, study, or use as a ref- 
erence book. 

F. MAIRE. 



MODERN PAINTER'S CYCLOPEDIA 



ADULTERATION 

I. There is much less need of an extensive knowl- 
edge of the "how to detect" adulteration in painting 
material today than was necessary only a decade ago. 
Thanks to the wise action of the general government 
and that of many of our state legislatures, the gross 
adulterations to which all such material had been sub- 
jected then, has been greatly curtailed since. At the 
present time it is possible for one to know to a cer- 
tainty the composition of any color, or what are the 
contents of any barrel, can or other package containing 
paint, varnishes, vehicles, etc. The law in many of our 
states forcing the manufacturer to state upon the label 
the name of every ingredient entering into the compo- 
sition of the contents. So if the name of a desired color, 
say Chrome yellow, medium, is printed upon the label 
as pure, and the name of the manufacturer appears 
upon it too, one may be safe in buying it for what it is. 
The greatest danger is in the buying so-called second 
quality goods. In the above instance suppose the label 
said "Chrome yellow — medium. Contents, chrome yel- 
low and barytes. Of course this indicates that it is not 
•lure — but how much pure? It may contain 25% pure 



8 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

chrome yellow and 75% barytes which is about the 
average in the better grade of off colors, or it may be 
10% chrome yellow, and even much less, and the rest 
barytes. And in the dry colors many run as low as 3% 
actual colors to 97% barytes chalk or other adulterants. 

2. In colors or pigments dry or ground in oil, water 
or japan, there is a possibility of greatly adulterating 
most of these without any remarkable change in the 
looks of the goods themselves, so that it requires a 
knowledge of the principal ingredients used in adulter- 
ating to understand how to detect them. 

3. Heavy weight colors are usually adulterated 
with some substance of as near the bulk or weight as 
their own; besides the adulterant must be as clear or 
colorless as possible, so as not to change materially the 
color or tone of the pigments they are added to. If 
much lighter in weight the usual size package used to 
pack the pure color would have to be greatly increased 
to accommodate the larger bulk of the adulterant needed 
to make up the weight. This would at once give it 
away in the mind of one who is at all familiar with the 
customary packaging of pure goods. 

4. a. What is known as Barytes or Barium Sul- 
phate is the most common adulterant used in the sophis- 
tification of all heavy colors. This substance seems em- 
inently well fitted for this purpose as when mixed in 
oil it is so very transparent that it may be painted over 
new wood in several coats without hiding the grain of 
the wood much more than so many oilings would have 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 9 

done. This great transparency enables the color (?) 
manufacturer to add it in nearly any proportion de- 
sired to colored pigments. But it is after all mainly as 
an adulterant of white lead and zinc white, that it shows 
up to the best advantage — as an adulterant. It is the 
nearest substance in weight to white lead, being very 
heavy, and known as heavy spar in lead mines where 
it is frequently found. This great density permits the 
use of a package for the adulterated lead little greater 
than that used for the strictly pure article. It is said 
nearly — but not quite. An expert will detect even the 
slight enlargement of the package necessary to contain 
a given weight. 

b. Some of the colored pigments themselves arc 
adulterated with barytes to an extent and degree in- 
credible to the uninitiated. Some of the stronger ones 
are frequently met with — especially in the dry state, 
containing as much as ten or twelve times their own 
weight of barytes, while in such pigments ground in 
oil the proportion ranges from 75% to 500% in ex- 
treme cases. 

c. The pure food laws, so called, are of doubtful 
utility in that in most states the percentage of each sub- 
stance or ingredient in a compound is not stated, but 
the adulteration is only indicated by the mention of its 
presence. So one is left to guess at it. In the preced- 
ing paragraph 4 b. it is stated that the proportion may 
be anywhere from 75% to 500%. Seventy-five per 
cenc, high as that may sound (i part color to 3 parts 



10 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

adulteration) is legitimate for many colors that are very 
strong and which cover well in the self color, or which 
are very seldom used for tinting purposes. Chrome 
green and all the fancy named proprietary greens, by 
common consent and custom have sanctioned it, are all 
made on that basis. The pure color used in painting 
in its self color will cover very little more surface than 
the commercial, which is adulterated in the proportion 
stated of 3 to I. In that it cheapens the cost of the 
goods, it really becomes a benefit to the consumer, that 
is when confined to the well known trade custom limits 
— but unfortunately it is not always done, and in the 
dry colors especially, the coloring matter contained in 
some goods is little more than that used in the pre- 
paring of colored chalk. 

5. To detect the amount of adulteration present is 
not so difficult as may be supposed it is. There are two 
very distinct methods of doing this. First, by a chemi- 
cal analysis (quantitative) which, if properly made, will 
give a complete tale of the quantity of each ingredient 
entering into the compound. As most of the readers 
of this book are not chemists and as the cost of an anal- 
ysis properly made will usually cost far in excess of the 
value of the material under examination, it must be 
waved aside as impracticable to most people. 

While without question a chemical analysis is the 
most satisfactory, and only correct manner of deter- 
mining adulteration accurately, fortunately there is a 
way of approximatively fixing the amount of it in any 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 11 

goods that no one need buy adulterated goods without 
knowing very nearly just what he is paying for; nor 
has one any need of a knowledge of chemistry in mak- 
ing the test. 

6. This test is called the "Scale test." To make the 
test all the implements required is an accurate pair of 
scales with weights in grains or grammes. What are 
known as army surgeon's scales or any of the apothe- 
caries' pocket scales will do. A few sheets of waxed 
paper. A few pieces of glass, well cleaned, to lay the 
colors upon. A palette knife to triturate the colors with 
and some blotting paper to absorb the oil out of colors 
so that each may have the same consistency. The above 
or equivalents are all the appliances needed to equip one 
for testing. 

7. The testing is made in the following manner: 
The person wishing to make a test should have a sam- 
ple which is well known to be genuine to use as a stand- 
ard to judge of the value of a similar color about to be 
tested. These standard colors can easily be procured 
at any color or painter's supply store, by procuring tubes 
of Windsor and Newton's artist colors in tubes. These 
are standard colors of known purity and while there 
may be a number of others as good as they, none will 
surpass them and they will be found better, while many 
will be found inferior to them. So that if W. & N.'s 
are not procurable any other made by a reputable house 
will be found sufficiently good for the purpose. 

Now it stands to reason that if two similar colors to 



12 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

be tested are equally pure that an equal weight of each 
color when triturated with two batches of white lead 
both also of an equal weight it follows that when the 
two colors have been mixed each one separately with 
the lead — that the tint made will be very nearly of the 
same strength of tone if both are equally pure, but that 
if one has been adulterated then it must lack in coloring 
matter to about the same quantity or percentage as had 
been added of adulteration to the pure color in the first 
place. 

Thus if one grain or gramme of say — chrome yellow, 
is carefully placed upon a small square of waxed paper 
(about }i inch square) and afterward weighed care- 
fully upon the balances, then placed upon a piece of 
glass, rubbing the waxed paper over the glass to remove 
all traces of color from it ; then triturated with say 50 
grains or grammes of white lead, also placed on waxed 
paper and carefully weighed, the tint resulting from the 
triturating should be spread out on the glass, bringing 
it quite to one edge of it on one side, so as to permit of 
an easy inspection of each sample when placed side and 
side together; then aftervvard doing the same with the 
other color in each case in like manner, that if there 
be no adulteration that there will be but very little dif- 
ference in the tints made. 

If the color examined has been adulterated, the tint 
it will make with white lead will be much weakened as 
stated before. Now to determine in a sufficiently ac- 
curate manner what the proportion of adulterant has 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 13 

been added to it — all that will be necessary will be to 
add more white lead to the tint made by the stronger 
color until it is reduced to the strength of the tint made 
by the weaker color. The tint made by the addition of 
more white lead should be reweighed. 

Thus if one grain of color and 50 grains of white 
lead produced a tint that is fully equalled by one grain 
of another color and 250 grains of white lead, it must 
be that the color which is the weakest has been adulter- 
ated with four times its own weight of some kind of an 
adulterant which has lessened the proportion of color- 
ing matter to the same proportion that the adulterant 
contained in it bears to the pure. 

This test is especially valuable for all chemically made 
colors having well known formulas. It is useful, how- 
ever, to determine the relative value of most all the 
earth colors also with the exception of some very few 
transparent ones whose chief value consist in this very 
transparency and their brilliancy of tone. In the latter 
case the mere strength test is of little value. Under 
the subject head of colors by referring to paragraphs 
61 to 74, fuller information is given regarding their 
value and really substitution takes the place of adulter- 
ation for such. 

8. To test adulteration in white lead made by the 
Dutch process or the hyd.-carb. of lead, a very simple 
test is made use of to detect such. Place a small bit of 
the lead to be tested upon a sliver of pine wood, light a 
match, bring the flame from it in contact with the lead 



14 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

on the stick. In a very short time, if the lead is pure, 
some very fine globules of metallic lead will appear 
upon it. It may possibly take a couple of matches to 
make the test satisfactory, if one has been careless in 
not getting the full force of the flame in the first one. 

The blow pipe test is more satisfactory but it some- 
what more difficult to make ; requiring also a blow pipe 
which is a tube curved at one end and a piece of char- 
coal. A candle is also necessary. Place some lead in 
a small cavity prepared in the charcoal, put the char- 
coal with the lead on it in the left hand and near the 
candle, then blow the pipe upon the flame of the candle 
in such a way as to deflect the blue flame resulting from 
the blowing upon the lead. This will burn up the oil 
and in a minute the lead, if it is pure, will have resolved 
itself into a small metallic globule of pure lead. 

If the lead has been adulterated with as small a 
quantity as io% of barytes zinc clay or silicate earth, 
it will not reduce to the metallic state and as no one 
would undertake to adulterate lead with as small a 
quantity of barytes as that for it would not pay, it will 
be easily understood that if it will not reduce, it is 
surely adulterated much more than that. 

It may be well to state here that the above tests will 
not apply to any other form of white salts used as paint 
which are derived from lead. Sublimed lead, for in- 
stance, will not be reduced by it, being a basic sulphate 
of lead. It would need fluxing and a very high degree 
of heat to reduce it and such a test is not to be thought 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 15 

of to a novice or others unfamiliar with the process nor 
equipped for it. 

The described scale test reversed will give a fair in- 
dication of the amount of adulteration in any sample 
of white lead. To make the test — only the one color 
must be used taken from the same can. Weigh one 
grain of color, which place on glass — repeat this and 
place the color upon another glass; then weigh 50 
grains of lead which place with the first grain of color 
weighed out ; repeat this but use 50 grains of the white 
lead you wish to test. The first having been taken from 
a keg which is known to be pure; the other being the 
suspicioned one. Triturate each upon their separate 
pieces of glass, if one has been adulterated, it will lack 
in opacity and body and the color will be able to tint 
it to a very much deeper tone than it has been able to 
do with the pure lead, which being more opaque, will 
hide the coloring matter much more than the adulter- 
ated sample has been able to do. In other words the 
stronger the lead — the less will a given weight of color 
change its color. 

Now to return to the practical side of the test; if 
one grain of Venetian red has been able to color 50 
grains of lead known to be pure then it will be safe to 
infer that the first contains 33 1/3% of white lead and 
66 2/3 barytes or other adulterant; or i part lead, 2 
parts adulteration. 

While the above tests are all approximative, they 
are practical and easily made, being within the possibil- 



16 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

ity of everyone, requiring no knowledge of chemistry 
and while not conclusive as to what the adulterant 
really consists of, in reality this knowledge is not very 
important to the purchaser of color. It shows him how 
much valuable material is contained in the various sam- 
ples tested and after all that is the main thing for him 
to know. He can know to a certainty whether he is 
paying a right price for his goods or whether he wants 
them at all or not. 

QUESTIONS UPON ADULTERATION. 

1. \\'hat can be said generally about the adulte'ra- 
tion of colors, etc., at the present time? 

2. Are adulterated colors readily distinguished 
from those that are pure ? 

3. What kind of an adulterant is required for 
heavy and light colors respectively? 

4a. What adulterant is mainly used in white lead? 

b. Is barytes used in adulterating colored pig- 
ments ? 

c. Are the pure food laws a complete protection 
against the adulteration of color? 

5. How is the amount of adulteration detected? 

6. What is needed in making the scale test? 

7. Describe the manner of making the test. 

<S. How caii strictly pure white lead be tested for 
purity? 

THE BLISTERING OF PAINT. 

9. There are several causes which produce the blis- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 17 

tering of paint, but only two principal ones are worthy 
of any attention, as all the others are variations of the 
following two agents, to-wit : Moisture and heat. 

10. Moisture is the principal direct cause produc- 
ing nine-tenths of all the blistering of paint on the out- 
side of buildings. 

11. But it cannot really produce a blistering of 
paint without the concurring assistance of heat. 

12. With the numberless essays which have been 
written and the endless discussions which have taken 
place at Painters' Conventions and elsewhere relating 
to the blistering of paint, it must be acknowledged that 
there are many points involved in this relation which 
are as yet but improperly understood. 

MOISTURE. 

13. Some parts of its action upon paint is very 
plainly to be seen, so that nearly every one who has 
given the subject a thought, one would suppose some 
uniform explanation would be given of it, yet upon the 
very plainest action of moisture many intelligent men 
differ materially in explaining its action upon paint. 

Moisture in the paint itself very rarely injures the 
painting done with it, however strange it may sound 
for one to make the statement. Thus emulsated paints 
properly prepared will last fully as long as paints 
which have not been prepared by emulsion — but they 
must have been prepared scientifically or they usually 
will be found short lived enough. 



18 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

a. If moisture is present in the wood over which 
paint is appHed or that can be sucked up from the earth 
by capillary attraction as in stone, brick and cement 
structure, then there is great danger that the paint 
will blister sooner or later, 

b. As stated before there must be heat present to 
help moisture in producing a blister. Heat acts upon it 
in this way : Moisture may and does remain confined 
for a long time when there is no way opened for it to 
escape. So long as it remains in the state of water it 
will never produce a blister. For this reason one never 
hears of blistering in late autumn, winter or early 
spring. 

c. But when that water becomes heated by the hot 
sun it is turned into steam ; as it is prevented from evap- 
orating by the impervious coat of paint. In expanding 
itself into steam it forms a blister large enough to hold 
it under the paint which has been softened by the heat 
of both steam and sun from both sides. 

d. This skin may or may not break out so as to 
let the steam escape into the atmosphere. When it does 
not do so, as soon as the atmosphere becomes cooled the 
steam is condensed into water again. Anyone can 
easily prove this to his perfect satisfaction by pricking 
the bubble with a pin when the water will at once run 
out. 

e. It is very seldom that blisters caused by moisture 
can ever be seen except upon the south side of build- 
ings, the west and the east but mostly on the south, then 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 19 

next in number on the west and least on the east with 
none on the north. This order verifies the theory ad- 
vanced that moisture without the aid of heat will not 
cause blistering of paint as the south which receives 
the sun's rays nearly all day shows the most blisters, 
the west next and the east its weakest as it receives 
early morning rays and the intense ones only for a 
short time about lo to 12 noon exhibits the smallest 
number of blisters 

The above applies to wood, brick, stone, or cement 
buildings alike, if they absorb moisture — the wooden 
from imperfectly seasoned lumber and the others by 
capillary attraction from the earth or by defect in the 
roof or eaves, causing moisture to run down behind the 
paint. 

HEAT. 

14. We have seen its action in the foregoing para- 
graphs in conjunction with moisture. 

a. Heat alone, if it be great enough, will blister 
paint and the best proof of it is : That most of all old 
paint removed from overpainted surfaces, is chiefly 
taken off by the aid of the paint burners which heats 
it and softens it into heat blisters. 

b. There are other instances where blisters are pro- 
duced directly by the action of heat without the aid of 
moisture: ist where a very dark paint has been applied 
to a surface which before had been coated over with 
a very light tint. It is explained in this way : Light is 



20 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

reflected by white and all light tints, and absorbed by 
all dark ones; therefore the dark coat will absorb the 
sun's rays readily, but it stops at the light color under- 
neath and instead of further penetration the reverse 
takes place — it is there reflected. The heat having 
softened the linseed oil contained in the upper coat 
which from its having been put there more recently is 
yet full of elasticity, will swell cut from the pushing 
away influence it receives from the heat and light re- 
flected by the light under coat and gradually loosen itself 
from it far enough away that there is no more expan- 
sion needed. These bubbles or blisters are always dry 
when pricked through, showing no moisture and are 
always seen above the light tinted coat underneath, 
leaving that intact upon the building. This class of 
blisters are very similar to the ones formed upon paint- 
ed surfaces too near a stove and other places subject to 
overheating. 

c. There is another instance where an upper paint 
coat will separate from an under one — this is due to 
the action of moisture — not in the wood, brick, stone 
or cement — but from its development in the under coats 
of paint. It can be traced as readily as the former and 
as easily understood. 

It is a well known fact that clay will absorb and give 
out moisture. Some pigments like our American 
ochres, for instance, are composed mainly of alumina 
(clay) colored by ferric hydroxides. They may have 
been very thoroughly dried before grinding in oil and 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 21 

all the care possible taken to have the article in good 
condition and as the oil used as a vehicle remains sound 
and impervious there will be no trouble between the 
clay ochre priming or sub-coats and the superadded 
ones, as in that condition an air-tight overcoating of the 
upper layers of paint protect it from moisture ; but as 
soon as the natural decay of the linseed oil has fairly 
commenced, then the trouble commences, although it 
is imperceptible at first. The oil having lost all its 
glycerides, their place forms very fine pores or con- 
duits through which the moisture will find its way to 
the clay based ochre underneath and as it, too, has felt 
the effects of the decay in its own coat of oil, this 
moisture is absorbed by the clay in wet weather and as 
freely parted with in dry hot weather. The sun soften- 
ing the oil of the upper coat makes it impervious again, 
its action upon the moisture contained in the clay ochre 
is to turn that into steam — ^that of steam is to expand 
and to vaporize and become absorbed by the atmosphere 
but being prevented by the softened coats of paint above 
it, it expands itself into a blister large enough to hold 
it. Then either of two things happen: ist the blister 
will burst and the condensed steam in the shape of 
water will run out; 2nd, or it will not burst and the 
condensed steam water will be held a prisoner under 
the blister till released by the breaking of the bubble or 
reabsorbed by the undercoat of clay ochre. 

This is a form of blistering well known to every 
experienced painter in the land, but frequently misun- 



22 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

derstood by them. They know the effect, but many are 
not aware of the cause of it. It has led many to reject 
ochre altogether for priming. For a more extended 
notice of this peculiarity of ochres the reader is referred 
to paragraph 79. The above two reasons why under 
which 99% of all cases of blistering can be traced will 
suffice to explain the troublesome phenomena of blis- 
tering. As to the remedy, alas! there is none but a 
removal of the cause. 

QUESTIONS ON BLISTERING OF PAINT. 

9. How many principal causes why paint blisters? 

10. Name the principal one. 

11. Name its accessory. 

12. Are the causes of blistering well understood? 

13. Describe how moisture affects paint in sub-sec- 
tions, a, b, c, d and e. 

14. Describe how heat affects paint in sub-sections 
a, h and c. 

BRUSHES. 

15. Brushes are one of the most important line of 
implements used by the paint trade in all its branches, 
from the coarsest down to the finest of artists' work 
and next to skill in guiding them take the lead as help- 
ers to users of paint. 

In the description of all the various brushes used by 
the paint and paper hangers' trades which follows in 
the course of this heading, precedence is given to the 
larger, which will be reviewed first and downward to 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 23 

the smaller ones and this will be the case for each one 
of the raw material from which they are made — as 
bristle brushes are those which are used the most of all, 
brushes made from that material will be reviewed first 
from the largest to the smallest and the same course 
will be taken with all the other sorts as much as possi- 
ble, giving those which are mostly used in sequence. 

It is lucky that under the alphabetical arrangement of 
the subject matter of this book that brushes come in at 
the beginning of this manual, as there will be no need 
of any explanation under the various headings other 
than a reference to the figures and their number, thus 
showing at a glance the particular tools each branch 
requires. 

It will be in order here to state that the manufactur- 
ing of brushes has progressed along and kept up with 
advances made by other lines toward perfection, which, 
however, it has not yet attained — but great improv- 
ments have been made over the past. 

It is not intended to go very deeply into details con- 
cerning the manufacture of brushes. This would lead 
into an infinity of details requiring full and minute de- 
scription to be intelligently understood and really be- 
longs to a treatise devoted entirely to that industry. 
Nor would such details be of much interest to the users 
of brushes. 

1 6. The material from which brushes are made con- 
sists of the hair and fur of various animals, usually set 
in cement or in glue or in rubber, and bound onto the 



24 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

head which is usually of wood by either thread, cord, 
wire or nailed metal strips or leather or a solid metal 
casing or vulcanized rubber. 

As has already been stated the brushes will be classed 
and described according to the raw material that they 
are made from and as near as possible in the order of 
their greatest usefulness. 

BRISTLES. 

Boar or hog bristles being by far the most important 
of all the raw material used in brush making, is en- 
titled to being noticed first of all. It enters into the 
manufacture of nearly all the brushes used in general 
painting. 

All the larger brushes flat, round or oval, are made 
of the very highest priced Russian bristles for the first 
qualities. It is claimed that the best of these are pro- 
cured from the wild boar. There is no doubt but that 
some bristles are obtained from that animal, -but it 
seems doubtful if the crop of bristle from that source 
would go very far in supplying the quantity required 
for the consumption of the whole world. 

The semi-tamed Russian hog produces, fortunately, 
bristles that are little inferior to that of the wild hog. 
Those borne upon the crest of the neck of the animal 
being the most valuable, being strong, elastic and longer 
than upon other parts of the body, although the other 
parts also produce very good but shorter bristles. Their 
market value diminishes according to length from the 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 25 

longest to the shortest. But even in the smaller sizes 
the Russian hog bristles are superior to all others in 
elasticity and wearing qualities. 

The so-called French bristles into which class nearly 
all other European bristles may be placed, furnish a 
very good next quality to that of the Russian and for 
the purpose of making varnish brushes or fine brushes 
to lay color for the carriage trade, they even surpass 
the Russian on account of their greater fineness and 
smoothness. The black bristles known as Chinese bris- 
tles, do not all come from the Orient as their name 
would indicate, but most of it comes from many other 
countries in Asia and Europe, beside what is furnished 
by our own packing houses where everything belonging 
to the hog is carefully saved excepting the squeal it 
is said. 

Our own packing houses furnish the bulk of the 
bi-istles used in making brushes and their output is not 
confined to black bristles only, but to all the colors which 
the many breeds are characterized with. But while 
some very good bristles are originated here, it must be 
admitted that they are few and come from that now 
nearly extinct specimen — the razor back. High breed- 
ing seems to deteriorate the bristle so that while the 
flesh and fat producing has greatly improved, the hair 
is much inferior to the old native and the great bulk 
of American bristle is inferior to the European impor- 
tations. 



26 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

SIBERIAN ox HAIR. 

i8. Siberian ox hair of the best quality is said to 
be the clippings of hair from the inside of the ears of 
the Siberian ox. Whether other parts of the growth 
on the body is not also used seems doubtful as the quan- 
tity of brushes which are sold under the name would 
indicate that if only the inner part of the ear produces 
all that is used then they must have enormous herds of 
oxen in that country. The probabilities are that not 
only Siberia but America as well is called upon to fur- 
nish the material required for the brush matter sold un- 
der that name. 

The best quality is unusually springy and varnish 
brushes made from it are very highly prized by the fur- 
niture wood finishing trades for certain kinds of work. 
The sign painter also uses them largely in both the quill 
bound and flat sizes for the one stroke letter shape so 
much in demand now days. 

BADGER HAIR. 

19. Badger hair is the product of several animals 
belonging to the same family, "the marmotte' or "mar- 
mouse" to which the badger and our famous weather 
prophet "the ground hog" belongs. It is long and while 
soft, it preserves its shape well. Finishing and flowing 
varnish brushes for both the wood finishing and car- 
riage trades are made from it. Gold tips and gold 
dusters for gilders. Blenders for the graining and 
marbling trades all prize it highly; nothing has been 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 27 

devised for that purpose that is anywhere equal to 
badger hair. 

BEAR AND FITCH HAIR. 

20. These two may be bracketed together as both 
are used mainly for the purpose of making flowing var- 
nish brushes. They make most excellent brushes for 
the purpose either alone or mixed together in certain 
proportions which is thought to make them better by 
some wood finishers. Many carriage painters having 
become used to sable hair claim them to be better than 
anything else. 

SABLE HAIR. 

21. Sable hair of both the red and black variety 
are very highly esteemed by artists, decorators, sign 
writers and stripers. They are rather expensive but as 
they are much more durable and for the laying of heavy 
bodied colors are so much better adapted to the work 
than camel hair brushes are that the latter are losing 
ground for use in heavy weighted pigments with all 
discriminating users. 

CAMEL HAIR. 

22. Camel hair is a misnomer as the squirrel fur- 
nishes the bulk of it, however, as it is known only under 
that name, it is likely to stick as long as the English 
language lasts. 

It is very soft and lays color very smoothly and when 
carefully done little if any brush mark will show. The 
better made brushes of that material are excellent and 
it would be a sad day for many workmen if the supply 



28 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

should suddenly be stopped as many would be com- 
pletely lost to know what to do in replacing them. They 
as well as all good things have a great fault in that 
being very soft, they have little elasticity and if used in 
jheavy colors they are likely to bend and become de- 
formed. The carriage trade, the wood finisher, sign 
•writers, stripers, decorators, enamelers, lacquerers, art- 
ists, etc., all use them to a greater or lesser extent. 

2^. This concludes the list of raw material from 
which brushes are made for the paint trade with the 
possible exception of "Tampico," which may be con- 
sidered as an adulterant and which is used chiefly in 
making up the cheaper grades of bristle brushes. It 
possesses not an atom of value other than to fill up a 
given space and takes up that which should be occupied 
by better material. It can scarcely be called a fraud be- 
cause such brushes are made for a class of trade who 
want to buy something for nothing and they must be ac- 
commodated. But the advice given to those who buy 
brushes is to buy the best only. The first cost of a brush 
may be large in comparison to the poor tool, but it is 
actual economy to buy the best, as the}'- last much longer 
and enable the workman to do his work in a creditable 
manner, which is nearly impossible to do with poor 
tools. 

BRISTLE BRUSHES. 

24. Under this head all bristle brushes made for 
the general paint trade, including the decorators, etc., 
will be reviewed and an illustration of each kind given, 



Moder,n Painter's Cyclopedia 



2£ 




ll'IIJillllliiilhllliltll 



BiitflllllllllllUlilllllHIIWIIIIIIIIIIliU^^^ 

Fig. 1 — Kalsomine Brush. 



30 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

which will show the shapes. As, however, all or most 
of them are made in several qualities and sizes, it will 
be impossible to give all these in "illustrations" In 
the description the various sizes that each is made up 
in will be given. 

a. The calcimine brush is probably the largest and 
most expensive brush made for the paint trade. The 
best are made from long springy Russian stock and on 
downward to clear Tampico. They are made on a flat 
wooden head with a wooden handle and are bound in 
metal nailed on to the head, usually galvanized iron is 
used for the purpose. They are made in three sizes: 
6, 7 and 8 inches wide. See Fig. i. 




Fig. 2— Extra Wall Stipplera. 

b. Wall stipplcrs are long bristle brushes made 
upon an oblong square head usually in two sizes, 3/^x 
8 and 3^x9 inches. These brushes are used only in 
following up wall painting to obliterate brush marks 
and producing a uniform grained finish to the work, by 
beating the painting evenly all over. The head is a 
wooden one and the finished tool looks like a mam- 
moth cloth brush. See Fig. 2. 

C. Flat wall brushes are made up in all qualities 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



31 



and widths of head from 3 to 5 inches wide, and are 
bound to a wooden head and handle by a metallic 
band or by a leather binding when they are then known 
being set in a rubber head and vulcanized. This pre- 




Fig. 3— Stucco Wall Paint Brush, 
vents the losing of hair. See Fig. 3 for the shape of 
as "stucco wall" brushes. Some are also made by 




Fig, 4 — stucco Wall Paint J5rush. 

metal bound wall, and Fig. 4 for the "stucco or leather 
bound." 

d. Round bristle paint brushes are made in many 
qualities, weights and lengths of bristles; in open cen- 
ters, semi-open centers or full stock, besides a number 
of patented arrangements each claiming to be 'Ht." 
The binding is usually wire or cording or set in a solid 



32 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



rubber head. The sizes run by o from i.o the smallest 
to 8.0 the largest. See Fig. 5. 

e. Oval bristle paint brushes only differ from the 
above by the shape of the make up which as the name 
indicates is oval instead of round. In qualities and sizes 
they are similar to the round brush described in the 
preceding sub-section. See Fig. 5, which also repre- 
sents it fairly well only that the handle is flatter than 
in the round brush. 




Fig. 5. 

/. Painters' dusters, either round or flat, and in 
many qualities of white or black bristles. The best 
quality is that known as the coach painter's duster and 
are made in white bristles only. The length and thick- 
ness of hair make the selling price higher and lower 
running from 33^ to 5 inches long. See Fig. 6 for the 
round. The flat is shaped like Fig. 3 only more loosely 
put together. 

g. 13efore closing up on the large bristle brushes it 
will hp- well to note "the zvhitezuash heads" as some- 
times tne painter is called upon to do that kind of work; 
besides being an excellent tool to do calcirnining with 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 33 




Flat Painter's Duster, 




Eound Painter's Duster. 
Fig. 6. 




Fijr. 7. 



34 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

also in apartments where furniture, carpets, etc., en- 
cumber a room so that stepladders and scaffolding is 
not to be thought of, a long handle can be set in the 
whitewash head and the work of calcimining a ceiling 
done from the floor. They come in widths ranging 
from 6 to 9 inches. They are bound to the wooden 
head by either metal bands or leather. The illustration 
shows the leather bound. See Fig. 7. 

h. Sash tools are made either round or oval full 
length of bristle or chisel edge. They are bound by 
cording, wire, a solid metal head or set in a hard rub- 
ber head and in many qualities of material. They come 
in numbered sizes, No. i being the smallest, to No. 10 
the largest. See Fig. 8 for the full length hair and 
Fig, 9 for the chisel edge shapes. 

i. Coach pointers' spoke brushes run in sizes from 
No. I to 3 and are used chiefly by the carriage trade, 
but they are also very useful for a number of purposes 
in general painting where a long but slim brush is to be 
used. Decorators in water colors will also find them a 
handy tool for coves, etc. See Fig. 10. 

/. Glue brushes are usually metal bound and well 
set. They mn in sizes from 000 to No. 4 or from ^ 
inch to i^ inch in diameter. See Fig. 11. They are 
also made flat, metal bound, and from i inch to 6 
inches wide. The flat brushes are also made chisel 
edged. See Fig. 12. 

k. Painter's car scrub brushes are made from very 
stiff bristles and run in sizes from No. 4 to No. 6. It 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



35 




Fig. 8— Sash Tool. 



Fig. 9— Sash Tool, Chisel Edged. 



36 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



is a very useful tool to the carriage painter. See 
Fig. 13. 

BRISTLE VARNISH BRUSHES. 

I. Bristle varnish brushes are usaully made oval 




Fig. 10 — Coach Painters' Spoke Brushes. 

and are bound with wire or by solid metal heads and 
with full length of bristle or chisel edged in many qual- 




Fig. 11— Round Glue Brushes, Gray Bristles. 








^ 


3= • 4fc-^^ 


^z:--^ 


a\ 


« 


' " 


«*\ 


« 




' *» 








t 






«* 




^S 






r~ ' K 


'«: . 






: tt -1 




*^3i 


• 






« 


Q 


''^mI 


M^MM 


m 


Mf 




Fig. 12— Flat Glue, Gray Bristles. 

ities and sized by o from i.o the smallest, to 8.0 the 
largest. All have flattened wooden handles, Fig. 14 
showing the full length and Fig. 15 the chisel edge 
shapes. Fig. 1 5 also shows the solid metal head. 

There are also a number of different qualities of flat 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



37 



varnish bristle brushes from very good to very poor 
single thick, double thick, full length bristle to chiseled 
edge. The shapes vary very much as well as that of 




Fig. 13 — Painters' Car Scrubs. 

the handles. The two Figs. i6 and 17 will suffice to 
show the leading shapes. Like all flat brushes they are 
sold by the inch, being made from i inch to 4 inches, 
graded by half inches between. 

Coach painters and many others use a brush made up 
very much like the one shown in Fig. 15, and which is 
known as a coach painter's color brush. 

m. Stencil brushes are used for the purpose indi- 
cated by their name. Like all the rest there are many 




Fig. 14 — Gloss Oval Varnish Brushes. 

qualities. They are bound with wire or set in a solid 
metal head or band. In size they run from i inch to 
2)^ inches in diameter. Figs. 18 and 19 illustrate the 
two bindings. 

n. Artists and decorators in both water and oil 
colors use a number of round, flat and triangular shaped 



ss 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 




ijiiiiii'*iHT«ii4iiiuHor.itin'i:ii'iiujraiJit!fJ!^iua'Ll'Jiiii'Jjii«Wi!.ii* 



Fig. 15— Oval Chiselled Varnish Brush. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



39 



small brushes with either short, medium or long bristles. 
According to what they have been designed for they 
are called a multitude of different names, as marking 
brushes, artists' round and flat bristle, fresco round 




Fig. 17— Badger Hair Flowing Brush. 

and flat, these cover about all the varieties. They are 
all metal ferruled with a long slim handle. They usu- 
ally run in numbers from i to lo for the round and 
from }i inch to i}i inch wide for the flat ones, by Ys 
inch gradations. Fig. 20 illustrates the round and 
Fig. 21 the flat sorts. 



40 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



0. Weighted brushes for polishing waxed floors for 
or waxed varnished ones, are extensively used at the 
present to imitate dead rubbed polish. They are shown 
in Fig. 22. 

p. The wood finishing trade uses many of the bris- 





Fig. 18. 



Fig. 19. 



stencil Brushes. 

tk brushes which have been described for filling, shellac- 
ing, etc. They buy those under the special names that 
they are wanted for, but differ so slightly from many 
of the flat stucco wall brushes that Fig. 4 will give one 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 41 




Fig. 20 — Fresco Bristle Brushes. 



42 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

a good idea of their shapes and sizes. However, the 
furniture trade uses a brush known as rubbing brushes 
which is illustrated in Fig. 23. This brush comes in 
many shapes or forms with enough variations to suit 
all the viev/s of the finishers. 

The brick liner, a tool used to color the mortar line 
on painted brick being shaped very nearly as the above 
only that it contains only a very thin row of hair, it will 
not be necessary to describe it more. 

PAPER hangers' bristle BRUSHES. 

q. The paper hanger's paste brush is specially made 
so as to rub out paste easily, but many paper hangers 
use a worn out calcimine brush instead. It is illus- 
trated in Fig. 24. 

r. Paper hangers' smoothing brushes are made 
from one to four rows of stiff bristles, wire drawn, in 
several qualities and are sized according to the length 
of head from 10 to 14 inches wide. Fig. 25 shows the 
ordinary smoothing brush and Fig. 26 the combination 
smoothing brush and seam roller. 

GRAINERS' BRISTLE TOOLS. 

s. Grainers use a few bristle brushes which are 
shown by the following illustrations: Fig. 27 shows 
the stippler used in putting in an all over coarse grain 
as in walnut, chestnut, etc. Fig. 28 shows the fantail 
overgrainers which are sized according to width of 
head from i inch up to 4 inches wide by half inch grad- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 43 




Fig. 21— Artiat's Bristle Brushes. 



44 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



ations. Fig. 29 shows a grainer's moltler and Fig. 30 
a bristle piped overgrainers, etc. 

BADGER HAIR BRUSHES. 

25. a. The badger haired Hawing varnish brushes 
are the principal ones used by the carriage and car 
painting trades and are also well liked by some wood 
finishers. They are all made chisel edged and bound in 




Fig. 21a. 

metal on a flat wood head or a continuation of the metal 
binder into a head with wooden handle attached. They 
are made single and double thick, ranging in sizes by 
J/2 inch gradations from J/2 inch to four inches wide. 
Fig. 31 shows both the single and double shape. 

b. Gilders' tips are made from either badger or 
camel's hair or a mixture of both as the squirrel is usu- 
ally too flimsy by itself. See Fig. 32. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



45 



c. The knotted bonehead badger hair blender of the 
grainer's trade, is an indispensable tool ; it is used also 
by marblers and all painting requiring good blending. 




Fig. 22 — Angular Bristle Fresco Bruslipy. 

It is sized according to width by half inch ■i:rr)'3rj'[i ms 
from 2 to 5 inches wide. See Fig. 33. 

d. Round badger haired blenders are used princi- 




Fig. 23 — Furniture RubbiBg Brushes. 

pally by artists and as a duster by gold leaf workers. 
They are bound in quill and of various sizes grading 
by numbers from No. i to No. 12. See Fig. 34. 

ox HAIR BRUSHES. 

26. a. Ox hair flowing varnish brushes are very 
highly prized by many wood finishers. They are made 
single and double and come in sizes and shapes same 
as Fig. 31, which see. 



46 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



h. Ox hair Hat sign writers' brushes are made to 
supply the demand for a one stroke letter in a cheaper 




Fig. 24 — Paperlianger's Paste Brush. 

material than sable capable of carrying heavy colors. 
The size ranges by 34 inch gradation up to i inch wide. 




Fig. 25 — Paperhanger's Smoothing Brush. 




Fig. 26. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



47 



See Fig. 35, which also illustrates all other makes from 
other material. 

c. Ox hair is also used in the make up of full lines 
of lettering and striping brushes, either bound in quill 
or metal. The illustrations shown below will also illus- 




Fig. 27— Walnut Stipplera. 

trate all other makes as shapes and bindings are about 
the same. See Fig. 36 for lettering and Fig. 37 for 
striping brushes, and Fig. 38 for metal bound handled. 




Fig. 28. 

The sizes in all kinds are numbered alike from No. i up 
to No. 12. Many kinds are only numbered to No. 6. 

RED AND BLACK SABLE BRUSHES. 

27. a. Black and red sable brushes to all intents 




Fig. 29— Mottlers. 



48 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



and purposes may be classed together, as they are nearly 
alike in working qualities. As they are very springy 
and soft at the same time, they make up a very valuable 




Fig. 30— Piped Overgiainers, Etc. 

flowing varnish brush which is highly prized by coach 
painters and wood finishers. They are made up in same 
sizes and shape as shown in Fig. 31, which see. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



49 



b. Black and red sable sign writers, flat one stroke 
lettering-, are the best of the kind for heavy colors. 




Fig. 31 — Badger Hair Flowing. 

While costing more than any other, they last so much 
longer in good condition if taken care of that they are 
the cheapest in the end. Same sizes and shape as shown 
in Fig. 35, which see. 

c. Sign writers' quilled and ferruled letterers are 
the same in size and shapes as shown in Fig. 36. 




Fig. 32— Gilder's Camel-Hair Tips. 

d. Striping brushes of this material are indespensa- 
ble for use in heavy colors. See Fig. 37 for shape 
and sizes. 



50 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



e. Red sable artists' hnishes are ^^•ell known the 
world over. No other material could well replace it 
for use in heavy colors. They come both round and 




Fig. 33— Flat Knotted Badger Blender. 

flat, ranging in number from No. i the smallest, to 
No. 12 the largest. See Fig. 39, illustrating both, 

FITCH BRUSHES. 

28, The Fitch Hozving varnish brush is the only 
valuable brush which comes under that name. It is 
well liked by some carriage painters and to some extent 




Fig. 34 — Round Badger Blender. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 51 

by some wood finishers. See Fig. 31 for shape and 
sizes. 

29. Bear's hair flowing varnish brushes are very 
valuable either when made up of that material alone or 
when mixed with some other material, which is too 




Fig. 35 — Flat Black Sable Lettering Brushes. 

stiff by itself as a corrective. The wood finishing trade, 
especially the better class of furniture manufacturers, 
use it in great quantities. It is made up in same sizes 
and shape as shown in Fig. 31, which see. 

GAMBLES HAIR BRUSHES. 

30. a. Caniel's hair varnish brushes are used for 
many purposes and by nearly all branches of the paint- 
er's trade. They are very soft and lay varnish very 
smoothly. They all are made flat on somewhat vari- 
ously shaped heads with shorter length hair than var- 
nish brushes from other material are usually made as 
otherwise they would work too flabby. Their sizes are 
numbered according to width in y^ inch gradation3 
from ^ to 4 inches. See Fig. 40. 

b. The camel's hair mottler is a somewhat similar 
brush, but longer haired and thicker than the varnish 
brush. The mottler is used by many carriage painters 
as a color brush, but is specially made up then with 
thicker hair than the ordinary mottler used by grainers, 
stainers and others. They are metal bound and sized 



52 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 





. .i.r ;-.u.-,., jihiiBi'if^i -..- 



Fig. 36— Lettering. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



53 



according to width from i to 3 inches by y^ inch grad- 
ations. See Fig. 41. 

c. Camel hair lacquering brushes are used by all 
trades where lacquering is done. They come both 




Fig. 37 — Striping Pencils. 

round and flat. Both are metal bound. The round are 
sized from No. i to No. 6. The flat according to width 
by yi inch gradations up to i inch wide. See Fig. 42. 
d. The camel hair quill bound and ferruled letter- 
ing — the flat one stroke letterer and the striping brushes 




Fig. 38— Round. 

of that material, are excellent tools to work in the 
lighter weight colors. See Figs. 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39 
to illustrate the shape and sizes of the several brushes 
mentioned. 

e. The camel hair dagger striping brush is a shape 



54 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



well liked by many stripers, as much longer lines can be 
carried through without filling than with other shapes. 
See Fig. 43. They come numbered from No. i to No. 4. 

QUESTIONS ON BRUSHES. 

15. Generalities? 

16. What material is used in making brushes? 

17. What can you say concerning hog bristle? 




Fig. 39— Artists' Red Sable Brushes. 

18. What can you say regarding Siberian ox hair ? 

19. What can you say regarding badger hair? 

20. What are bear and fitch hair brushes mainly 
used for? 

21. What kind of brushes are made from red and 
black sable? 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



55 



22. What can you say regarding camel hair? 

23. Is Tampico useful as brush making material? 

24. a. What kind of brushes are made from briS' 
ties? b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, I, m, n, 0, p, q, r, and j? 




25- 



Fig. 40 — Camel's Hair Mottler. 

a. Describe the flowing varnish brushes. 
h. Describe the gold tip. 

c. Describe the knotted bonehcad badger 

blender. 

d. Describe the rounded blenders. 




Fig. 41. 

26. a. Describe the Siberian ox hair flowing var- 
nish brushes. 
h. Describe the ox hair flat sign lettering 

brushes. 
c. Describe the quilled and ferruled ox hair 
lettering brushes. 



56 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



27. a. Describe black and red sable flowing var- 
nish brushes. 
b. Describe the sable one stroke lettering 
brush. 




Fig. 42 — Camel's-Hair Lacquering Brushes. 

c. Describe the quilled and ferruled sable let- 

terers. 

d. Describe the striping sable pencils. 

e. Describe the sable artists' brushes. 




Fig. 43 — Champion Sword Stripers. 

28. Describe the Fitch flowing varnish brush. 

29. Describe bear's hair flowing varnish brushes. 

30. a. Describe the camel hair flowing varnish 

brush. 

b. Describe the camel hair mottler. 

c. Describe the camel hair lacquering brushes. 

d. Describe the camel hair lettering brushes. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 57 

e. Describe the camel hair striping brushes. 
/. Describe the camel hair striping dagger, 

CALCIMINING. 

31. Under this appellation will be considered all 
plastered wall painting done in water colors and dis- 
temper, except the more artistic and difficult section 
better known under the name of fresco painting. 

There are several ways of spelling the name used in 
describing the process such as : kalsomine, calsomine, 
distemper work and so forth, but all are one and the 
same thing. The root word calc — being taken from the 
Latin for chalk, which is the main material used in 
preparing it. 

Calcimining in one form or another has been used 
from time immemorial, probably ever since walls have 
received coats of plastering to make them more level 
and pleasing to the eye than the naked rough stone 
finish did. As this of itself was already a step towards 
embellishment it is but fair to infer that the same desire 
for the beautiful must have prompted the uniform 
coloring of the plastering at nearly about the same time 
for the purpose of still further embellishing the interior 
of dwellings. 

Walls covered with coatings of water colors and 
lime are and have been unearthed in Asia Minor and 
Egypt, which are nearly as old probably as the begin- 
ning of civilization in man. One must look for prehis- 
toric remains where everything is blank for a time when 



58 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

painting in some form with water colors was unknown 
as remains of it are to be found with the oldest records 
existing of all the ancient civilizations. Nor is the old 
world the only place where such records exist for the 
Aztec civilization existing in America previous to its 
discovery by Columbus is particularly rich in fairly well 
designed and colored remains of its most ancient 
periods. 

At the present time fully 98 per cent of all wall color- 
ing and embellishments consist of water color painting 
or printing which are either used upon the walls direct 
or pasted upon them in the shape of wall paper, which 
after all, is but — watercolored paper. 

Many persons become confused by the same thing 
being called by so many different names. The decor- 
ator hardly likes to have his work known under the 
name of calcimine (which is all it is in fact) as the 
name sounds too common, so he dubs it fresco, which 
it is not, or distemper or watercolor painting, which it 
is in common with plain everyday calcimining; but the 
other names sound more aristocratic and under those 
names he can command a very much larger price than 
he could under the other and he can hardly be blamed 
for it. 

The name distemper is taken from the French 
"d'etrempe" or colors mixed with water (drenched). 
The name is certainly very appropriate for the French 
at least; but why should English speaking nations call 
it that when the words "water color" are well under- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 59 

stood to mean the same thing and are never misunder- 
stood by anyone. 

It is hoped the above will remove any misapprehen- 
sions any one may have had as to these various names 
meaning different sorts of wall painting — they are all 
one and the same, 

TOOLS NEEDED FOR CALCIMINING. 

32. a. Galvanized pails holding about 12 qts. can 
be found at any hardware store. A strip of tin or 
wire should be soldered across the top about 2/3 of the 
distance of its diameter, this simple contrivance will 
be found very convenient for the purpose of removing 
any surplus color not wanted on the brush, it will also 
act as a support for the brush when not in use, keeping 
it flat and in good shape. However, it is only a con- 
venience but not a necessity. Besides there are many 
specially contrived pails for sale at the supply stores 
which are tony looking affairs, but none will be found 
much superior to a good galvanized pail with a wire 
soldered across its face and these will cost much less. 

b. An iron stand to rest the pail upon in order to 
raise it to a convenient height to dip the brush into 
when working on a scaffold is a necessity, and will 
quickly pay for itself in time saved bending down to 
the floor each time color is wanted and will save many 
a backache. A fair but a much more clumsy substi- 
tute can be made by using a wooden box of about the 
proper height. 



60 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

c. The calcimine brush (see Fig. i). Buy only the 
best — others are mere makeshifts. The first cost of a 
brush, well made and fitted to this work, will more than 
be repaid over the price of an inferior one in a single 
day's work by the increased amount of work that can 
be done with it — to say nothing of the ease of spreading 
the calcimine and the certainty of a good looking job 
when done and of the cleanliness made possible by their 
use. A good workman can take a high grade calcimine 
brush and work over carpets without dropping any 
color upon them — if careful. This, of cours-e, is not 
advisable and carpets, furniture and everything that 
could possibly be injured should either be removed or at 
least covered over — but it is within the possible to net 
drop anything upon them. 

d. A number of smaller flat and round brushes will 
be needed by the decorator in lining off his work and 
in hand work decorating also for reaching into coves 
and mouldings where his larger brush could not be 
made to reach. For shapes and sizes of these see Figs, 
lo, i6, i8, 19, 21, 22. 

e. Step ladders (see Fig. 78). 

/. Tressles and planks (see Fig. 79). 

g. Chalk line and plumb bob to lay out work with. 

h. A small portable stove to warm or boil water 
upon to melt glue with. In fact all paint shops need 
one as there are many uses to which they can be put. 
A small gasoline stove is probably as convenient and as 
cheap as. any thing that could be got. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 61 




Plate I, 



^ Mo&ern Pain\er's Cyclopedia 

L A glue pot to melt glue in although it is not a 
necessity especially if the glue has been soaked up \n 
cold water some time before, as when it is swelled up 
warm water will quickly dissolve it without bringing 
it to a boil. 

y. A T-square, some lining straightedges, a 2-foot 
rule and an awl to hold the chalk line are needed wher- 
ever any attempts are made at decorations. 

The above comprises about all the most essential tools 
needed in applying calcimine. A number of others will 
be needed by the decorator in water colors, and will be 
treated more fully under several headings where water 
colors are employed in the more artistic branches of dis- 
temper work. 

33. a. The material required for calcimining is 
fully described under the heading of colors (see para- 
graphs 61 to 84) it will only be necessary to state that 
whiting is the mostly used base upon which are added 
the coloring pigments necessary to produce the tints 
required. Under heading of color mixing (see para- 
graphs 61 to 84) full directions are given for making 
them. It will be useless even to name over the colors 
which are used in water color painting as nearly every 
pigment known can be mixed for use in water color 
painting. The base is the most important of all. The 
whiting should be of good quality, well washed of sedi- 
ments and the colors of pure tone, so as to produce 
clean looking tints. Some prefer to mix their tints on 
n zinc white base, claiming that the tints so mixed are 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 63 

clearer toned and cover better in one coat. It increases 
the cost somewhat, but that will not count on first class 
work. 

b. Glue is used more extensively than any other 
substance to bind the colors with, for it is both cheap 
and convenient to handle. Some of the decorators use 
gum arable to mix the higher priced colors used on the 
finest work. There are also a number of patented sizes 
on the market for which superlative excellence is 
claimed, which probably will be found convenient but 
none so far have been able to supplant good glues for 
general use. 

THE WALLS. 

34. Calcimining or water color painting is chiefly 
done on plastered walls. To a great extent it depends 
upon their being in a proper condition as to whether 
the work shall look good or bad when completed. 

An ideal wall to work upon is one that will be suffi- 
ciently hard to have but little suction, nearly but not 
quite non-absorbent. The patent plastered walls left 
either in a stipled rough state or covered over with a 
skim coat of plaster paris make an excellent surface to 
calcimine upon. 

But — alas! all walls are not in such a condition. 
With all the cheap John sort of plastering that is being 
done by contractors at a price which would mean a 
sure loss to them if they used good material, but which 
must be done so as to make a profit anyhow, many of 
the surfaces the calciminer has to deal with will be 



64 Modern taint er's Cyclopedia 

found very porous and absorbing, having a great deal 
of suction ; in many instances so much so that the calci- 
mine will be absorbed from the brush as soon as it is 
laid upon the wall so that it will not be possible to 
spread it any distance from where the brush first 
touched it. Such walls are called in the vernacular, 
"hot walls." They constitute the most troublesome 
and disagreeable feature of any of the ills belonging to 
the calcimining trade. 

35. The only sure way to enable one to do good 
work upon such walls is to stop this suction. There 
are several methods employed to do this. The old 
timers used to do this by using sizing, double sizing, 
etc., but it never was an entire success in that glue ab- 
sorbs and gives out moisture with the result that decay 
of the glue soon commences and cracking of the glue 
underneath the calcimine which is soon followed up by 
the scaling of the whole thing in flakes like bark coming 
off a sycamore tree. This will not always follow sizing, 
but the chances are that it may, so that today there 's 
but little sizing of walls being done with glue. 

The better way is to give the walls a coat of what ii. 
known to the trade as a surfacer. 

36. A surfacer in reality is a varnish specially pre- 
pared with a view of filling and stopping suction. It 
enters the porous plaster, forming an impervious coat- 
ing upon them over which one good coat of calcimine 
usually makes a good looking even finish. 

Many surfacers are placed upon the market with 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia S5 

astounding claims and loaded down with superlatives 
and adjectives sufficient to cause an ordinary circus 
poster to blush; nevertheless they usually do the work 
of stopping the suction and that is the main thing re- 
quired. 

Any quick, hard drying varnish will do the same 
thing and it is even intimated by some that gloss oil 
will do so. While this may be true in some instances, 
no one should be advised to put their trust in it and at 
best it should not be used if anything better can be had. 
Furniture, No. i coach and the cheaper so called "hard 
oil" varnishes will be found much safer than gloss oil. 

37. The surfacing coat being thoroughly dry, which 
requires from 10 to 24 hours according to the composi- 
tion of the surfacer, the walls are ready for the calci- 
mine. (For its preparation see paragraph 96.) 

If the rooms or halls are large and high ceiled, it 
will be much better to have tressles of the proper height 
with a flooring of 2-inch walking boards across them, 
sufficiently close together that the workmen will not 
have to waste any of his precious time shifting the 
boards about while he should be at his work busy on 
fresh edges upon which he can join before they have 
set, thus preventing an ugly lap line, showing at the 
end of every stretch. It should be remembered that the 
quicker the work can be done and finished from the 
time it has commenced to completion the better the job 
will look and the less likelihood of the surface showing 
brush marks and laps. 



66 . Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 




Plate II. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 67 

The calcimine need not be rubbed out and laid oft 
like oil paint. It will be sufficient that the color be laid 
on so as to cover every portion of the work without 
skinning it or leaving any holidays upon it (holidays in 
painters' parlance means a spot left untouched by 
paint). To insure having gone all over the surface of 
the wall, the better way is to first lay the color all over 
cross ways of the stretch then to brush it the long way 
of it. In this manner should there be any pin holes or 
places left untouched by the first cross brushing, the 
second will be almost sure to catch it unless the work 
is done in some very dark place where it is imp'ossible to 
see what is being done. 

If the suction has been properly stopped and the 
calcimine properly mixed the job will present an even 
and perfectly covered appearance of a beautiful flat 
finish entirely free of brush marks and laps ; but it some- 
times happens that the suction has not been perfectly 
stopped or that the calcimine has been imperfectly 
mixed. In that case it will be necessary to give the job 
another coat. To give this second coat one should pro- 
ceed in exactly the same manner as has been described 
for the putting on of the first coat. 

Where there has been no stoppage of the suction of 
the plastered walls and they are "hot" or in an absorb- 
ing condition, it is possible to go over them in a "way" 
which reduces the suction trouble to a minimum. It is 
this : to calcimine mixed in the ordinary way add about 
4 ounces of glycerine to the gallon pail. One ounce of 



68 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

powdered alum previously dissolved in warm water 
with just enough of that to dissolve it added for each 
gallon of calcimine, will also help. Some add a Yz pint 
of molasses to the gallon. The idea in all these addi- 
tions is to retard the drying in of the water paint on 
the plaster long enough that the next brushfuU ap- 
plied will still find the spot covered by the previous one 
wet enough to blend in with it without rubbing up. 
Glycerine has a great affinity for moisture and will 
retain it, so has molasses to some extent, but in a much 
lessened degree. A little soft soap is also of good 
benefit in retarding the drying in, beside giving to the 
calcimine much easier spreading properties. 

38. It is usual to count all ornamental work even 
that done in stencils over distemper painting as "fresco 
painting," but it is hardly proper to call by that name a 
paneled ceiling or walls stenciled with some simple 
designs or even with a stenciled center piece, corners 
and brakes. While properly speaking there is no fresco 
painting done in the United States, the name stands for 
a higher and more artistic class of work than that 
spoken of above. Every calciminer should be able to 
do this simple ornamentation without trouble. 

To lay out a ceiling with a center panel with stiles 
surrounding it in different color requires but little skill. 
A chalk line should be used to mark out the outlines 
accurately and the various colors carefully cut in up to 
the line. When dry it is ready to be lined up with 
such line work as is necessary and stenciled in appro- 
priate colors. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 69 

Under the heading of stencils a full description is 
given of the "how to make them" beside the proper 
way of using and taking care of them. (See para- 
graphs 290 to 302.) 

QUESTIONS ON CALCIMINING. 

31. What is calcimine and calcimining? 

32. a. What kind of pails are necessary? 

b. What support is required for them? 

c. What is the main brush used in laying it 

on walls? 

d. What other brushes are necessary? 

e. How is the work reached? 
/. What other means ? 

g. How is work laid out? 

h. What are the best means of heating water 

i. What is required to melt glue in? 

y. What other tools are useful? 

33. What material is employed in mixing calcimine ? 

34. What has been said regarding walls ? 

35. How can suction be stopped in hot walls? 

36. What is a surfacer? 

37. How is calcimine applied? 

38. How are walls and ceilings laid out into panels, 
stiles, etc. ? 

CARRIAGE PAINTING, CAR AND COACH 
PAINTING. 

For all practical purposes, all the above stand upon 
one and the same footing. The underlying principles 



10 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

and the reasons why of everything connected with them 
all being the same and having the same foundation. 

Why is it that carriages, cars, coaches, and all vehi- 
cles, delivery wagons, automobiles, in fact all vehicles 
making any attempt at brilliancy by a polished varnish 
surface and which are used out of doors for a great 
part of the time, subject to all the vicissitudes and hard- 
ships, great changes of temperature resulting from the 
inclemencies of the weather, why is it that such vehicles 
are painted in an entirely different manner than that 
used for the painting of buildings which have to be out 
in the weather all the time, summer and winter when 
the heat will almost boil water or get down below the 
o mark until mercury will freeze solid ? 

At first sight one would think that what was good 
enough for the painting of buildings which have to 
stand so much more hardships from the weather than 
vehicles usually do, that the same treatment applied to 
vehicles would be just the right thing for them. 

All are well aware that house painting is chiefly done 
by using linseed oil as a binder and vehicle of the pig- 
ments used in doing the work and really it is by this 
use only that a lasting job of painting can be done at all 
upon these while in the painting of carriages and other 
vehicles linseed oil is dispensed with in all but the first 
priming or foundation coats. Even if that first priming 
coat could be put on with any other liquid vehicle that 
would do the same good that is expected of it — it is 
more than likely that there would be none used at all. 



Modem Painter's Cyclopedia tl 




Plate III. 



72 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

This seeming inconsistency and variance is due to the 
fact that a perfectly level surface has to be made up for 
a carriage before it is colored and varnished, which is 
non-elastic or very slightly so or at least no greater 
than that of the varnishes themselves is. It is neces- 
sary that all coatings going onto the vehicle conform 
themselves to this end : the making of all the 
coats as near as possible, of each being as near like the 
others in contraction and expansion. Now if after 
the priming, linseed oil was used instead of japan and 
varnish as binder and vehicles, the varnish, which is 
composed mainly of hard gums would be unable to fol- 
low the greater expansion and contraction of the under- 
coats where the linseed oil was used with the conse- 
quence that it would have to give or crack, which means 
the same thing, to accommodate itself to its more pliable 
neighbor and the job would soon be an eyesore — be- 
sides oil coats have usually the very bad habit of sweat- 
ing through the varnish coats and stickiness would eur 
sue, which would catch all the dust and dirt it could 
carry and hold it there. So that what was once a thing 
of beauty would soon become an eyesore to look upon. 
It can thus readily be seen why it is not employed in 
carriage painting. 

THE TOOLS REQUIRED. 

40. a. Round or oval bristle brushes to do the 
priming with. It does not matter so much about size 
or shape. It should possess sufficient elasticity and firm- 
ness that the oil can be w'ell rubbed in with it. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 73 

b. A fair sized flat wall brush rather stiff but elas- 
tic, to put on rough stuff with, with some smaller ones 
to use in places where the larger ones would i/Ot readily 
reach. 

c. Some good heavy camel hair mottlers to lay color 
coats with somewhat identical in shape to Figs. 31 or 
41. Also some oval bristle chiseled edge varnish 
brushes which are used for the same purpose. (See 

Fig. 1 5-) 

d. Some badger, fitch and camel hair brushes to 
use in flowing, rubbing and varnishing running gear 
parts. (See Figs. 31, 40, 41.) 

e. Coach dusters, preferably made of white bristles 
fine and soft, to clean all dirt and dust with. (See 
Fig. 6.) 

/. Spoke brushes, which are long and slender, to 
reach down to the hub of wheels. (See Fig. 10.) 

g. A number of various sized kinds of lettering, 
striping and artists' brushes for ornamenting, in both 
camel hair and sable. (See Figs. 36, 37, 39.) 

EQUIPMENT USED IN CARRIAGE SHOPS. 

41. a. Every shop aims to adapt its contrivances 
to do work with in accord with its own particular needs 
and requirements. The ones described below need not 
be after any set pattern. Almost anything which will 
answer the purpose intended for will do from the crud- 
est to the very costliest, if they permit the painter to get 
at his work and do it without loss of time and con- 
venience. 



74 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

b. The most important are good tressles of proper 
height or adjustable, to lay bodies upon during the 
painting and drying operation and some others for 
carriage parts. 

c. Varnishing stands made to tilt are the most con- 
venient and require special mention. They need not 
be very expensive either, 3 legs and a tilting top 12 
inches square is all that is needed. This arrangement 
permits the workman getting all the way around the 
job without any hindrance from the tressle legs. 

d. Wheel jacks, which may be simply a post with a 
projecting peg to hang the wheel upon and turn it grad- 
ually \yhile it is being painted or varnished. 

e. Frames for bodies, gears and seats, each spe- 
cially designed for the particular parts they are wanted 
for. 

/. Some good brush keepers — some for color 
brushes, others for the different brushes used in var- 
nishing, preferably one for each brush to hang in its 
own kind of varnish. There are a number of very good 
ones on the market that are patented and in which 
brushes can be suspended without touching the bottom 
and with covered tops to prevent dirt or dust entering 
the keeper. One can make a very good individual brush 
keeper by going to the refuse heap, picking up some of 
the smaller sizes of tins wherein fruits and vegetables 
had been previously packed. Melt the top off, have a 
wire soldered on long enough to bend it so one end 
will act as a peg to fit a hole bored in the brush handle 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia It 

so the brush will hang free of the bottom of the can, 
then put the can into a large glass jar, some of the 
fruit packing jars will answer, and after the top has been 
screwed on one has an air tight and convenient brush 
keeper at small cost. The wire projecting above the 
tin itself will be found very convenient to lift it by, serv- 
ing as a handle when it is desired to take it out of the 
can. 

g. Putty knives in various shapes and widths, stiff 
and flexible square pointed and triangular. Spatulas 
for triturating and lifting paints and putties ; some good 
paint strainers for straining not only paint but var- 
nishes, compose the most necessary small and large tools 
of the hardware variety. • 

THE MATERIAL USED. 

42. Nearly all the pigments used in painting are 
available for coloring carriages and wagons, etc., as 
colors or pigments are fully described in following 
pages under the heading "Colors," it will be unneces- 
sary here to repeat the same and the reader is referred 
to paragraphs 61 to 84 for full particulars concerning, 
these. 

White lead either ground in oil, japan varnish or dry 
is probably the most important on the list, ochre and 
filling material next in preparatory work and blacks 
by long odds the most important in coloring coats, with 
a variety covering the whole chromatic scale in wagon 
and car painting. 



76 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 




Plate IV. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 77 

THE WORK PROPER THE PRIMING. 

43. This is the foundation upon which the whole 
superstructure will either make good or fail, therefore 
one should well understand its principles and take the 
utmost care in its performance in a good workmanlike 
manner. 

It has already been mentioned that the priming or 
foundation coat is the only one in which linseed oil 
should be used and the reasons therefore given. 
Under the name of priming, however, it is not meant 
the first coat (which is merely an oiling) but all coat- 
ings of the foundation for rough stuffing must be under- 
stood as forming a part of the priming. 

The first operation for the priming is the mixing of 
the color. This should consist of white lead colored to 
a deep gray with lampblack or white lead and ochre in 
various proportions also tinted with lampblack, which 
should be greatly thinned with raw linseed oil to which 
has been added a little dryer. The pigments themselves 
are understood as having been finely ground in oil and 
to have been so thinned, that the application of the 
priming may be said to be the giving the job a coat of 
colored oil. While the coating is thin the going over 
the parts painted must be plainly seen to have been 
colored by it. The work of its application with the 
brush must be thorough and put on with plenty of elbow 
grease, well brushed in — not simply gone over. 

The primed parts should be laid aside where they 
will have a chance to dry well and ample time should 



78 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

be given it for the same. The priming and for that 
matter all painting done with linseed oil may feel dry 
and seemingly hard under the touch of the finger, this 
is not an indication, however, that it is through dry- 
ing. It is not one day nor two days that it will take 
for the oil to be dry, but — certainly no less than a week 
should be allowed and two weeks would be better. 

Under the high pressure system in vogue, this is now 
seldom done, but when it is a well known fact that 
linseed oil keeps absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere 
for about lo days and that during that period it is 
undergoing changes of both form and bulk — it in- 
creases about io% and it is not to be considered as dry 
until this change shall have taken place. It must 
readily be understood that another application of paint 
over the priming before the changes due to drying are 
completed that it will be imperfect and incomplete and 
greatly hindered by the application of another coat from 
access to air from which it draws oxygen which be- 
comes combined with it and forms a gum resin during 
the process of drying. 

44. a. This coat being dry should be followed up 
by applications which are best known as the lead coats. 

THE LEAD COATS. 

44. b. This is composed of white lead which has 
been colored with lamp black to a light slate or dark 
gray. The lead is what in carriage painting is known 
as keg lead or white lead ground in linseed oil, and 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 79 

hereafter when that term is used, It means white lead 
in oil only. This should be thinned with about 34 lin- 
seed oil and }i turpentine to a proper consistency for 
applying with a bristle brush, in a smooth even manner. 
Some painters prefer a flat lead coat or one which 
contains just enough linseed oil to bind it on, the thin- 
ner consisting chiefly of turpentine. 

THE RUB LEAD. 

45. This is without doubt the better way of prepar- 
ing the job for further operations. It consists in mix- 
ing dry white lead to which a little lamp black has been 
mixed in about % parts of raw linseed oil to which ^ 
part of japan has been added, to a stiff paste and the 
same ground up in a shop paint mill and afterward 
thinned in the same proportion of linseed oil and japan. 
It should be applied as stiff as it can be worked, with 
a half worn out stiff bristle brush. After it has been 
spread let it stand a few minutes, just enough to let it 
take on a tact, when the lead rub coat should be rubbed 
over with the palm of the hand. It is needless to say 
that this rub lead coat should not be applied over the 
lead coats mentioned in paragraph 44, but instead it 
takes their place and should be applied directly over the 
linseed oil priming first described. This requires some 
little time to harden sufficiently for further operations, 
and for that reason is considered too slow in many 
shops, although it is undoubtedly the "very best way" 
to proceed in surfacing the priming. 



so Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

KNIFING IN LEAD. 

46. Knifing in lead is a quicker way of surfacing 
the priming coat. The lead used for this purpose is 
specially ground in japan for that purpose, but many 
prefer to mix it themselves from dry white lead mixed 
in various proportions of rubbing varnish, japan and 
turpentine. As the name indicates, it is spread with a 
knife. It requires careful manipulations so as to level 
up everything perfectly and it should be well pressed 
into any cavity or depressions. As work which has 
been "knifed" is seldom rough stuffed afterward it 
should be done so well that it will in a manner take the 
place of that operation. In fairly good work it is never 
used on bodies or wagon beds, but for the cheaper and 
medium grades even the bodies are "knifed in." 

PUTTY AND PUTTYING. 

47. The next operation in order after the rub lead 
has become hardened sufficiently is to putty up the job 
previous to rough stuffing. It is made by triturating 
together dry white lead, rubbing varnish and japan in 
about equal quantities. The consistency is somewhat 
variable for the different purposes that it may be 
wanted for, but for general purposes it should be suf- 
ficiently thin that it can be made to enter readily into 
any opening about to be filled, but also thick enough 
that the putty knife will made a clean level cut over it. 
as otherwise such parts will be eyesores, especially if the 
job is not to receive any rough stuffing. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



81 




Plate V. 



82 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

SAND PAPERING. 

48. After the puttying has dried and hardened suf- 
ficiently, the job is ready for the sand papering. This 
should be very carefully done with fine sand paper to 
level up any of the putty which rises over the parts sur- 
rounding it. Great care should be taken that in using 
the paper too energetically, the lead coats may not be 
cut through, therefore it should be confined to the parts 
where it is needed and the rest very lightly gone over, 
merely to assure one's self that no roughness has been 
overlooked. 

THE ROUGH STUFF. 

49. a. It would be impossible to produce that 
piano-like smoothness of finish which constitutes the 
chief beauty of a carriage body, without rough stuffing 
it. Therefore the operation of rough stuffing consists 
in the perfect leveling of the surface over which it is 
applied. It fills up whatever inequalities may be upon it, 
small pores, etc., until it is as level as a slab of polished 
marble. 

b. The material used consists mainly of coarse min- 
eral paints which all the supply stores sell under the 
name of fillers, and these are combined with white lead. 
They are mixed in the proportion of 3 parts of the filler 
to I of keg lead, by weight, into a stiff paste in a thinner 
composed of equal parts of quick rubbing varnish and 
japan, thinned to the proper working consistency with 
turpentine. There are a number of other methods of 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 83 

mixing- rough' stuff, but the one given is that which is 
chiefly in use and will be found satisfactory. 

c. It should be put on carefully and leveled up with 
as much attention as in any of the other applications, 
but somewhat thicker than is required for color coats. 
While rough stuff should be thicker than those, yet it 
should be thinned sufficiently so as to allow of the 
proper brushing it out without dragging, and a good 
chiseled edge bristle varnish brush should be used 
which has been broken in but not much worn. (See 

Fig. 1 5-) 

It is a much better policy to give the job 3, 4 or even 
5 coats of rather thin coats than to try to accomplish 
the came object with two coats which are too heavy. 

The mixing formula given requires 24 hours drying 
before a next coat be applied. 

d. When giving the job the last coat of rough stuff, 
the latter should have a little Venetian red mixed up 
with it and should be thinned more liberally with tur- 
pentine than was used in the preceding coats. 

RUBBING THE ROUGH STUFF. 

50. a. If the rough stuff coats have been carefully 
put on, the work will now be in proper shape for "rub- 
bing down." 

There is nothing better for the purpose than the rub- 
bing brick which may be found in all the supply stores in 
the United States, ready prepared. The fine Italian 
natural blocks of pumice stone, well leveled, is still used 
where an extra fine job is desired. 



84 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

b. While the rubbing is being done the surface 
should be kept well wetted with clean water and often 
sponged off to keep it from gumming. 

c. And here is where the last guide coat prepared 
with Venetian red puts in its good end. If the work 
of rubbing the rough stuff has been carefully and sys- 
tematically done by rubbing the surface with strokes 
leading in one direction back and forth, without wig- 
gling or going over the surface in a haphazard way, 
when the guide coat has been cut through the surface 
will be level. Yet the cutting through of the guide coat 
is not always an indication that the work has been prop- 
erly done or leveled. The skilled workman however 
can readily ascertain this by passing the palm of his 
hand over it, and his fine sense of touch will readily 
give him notice of any imperfectly leveled parts. Time 
and experience alone will enable one to become a good 
judge as to whether the work has been well done or not. 

THE COLORING AND GLAZING COATS. 

51. a. Generally speaking concerning the applica- 
tion of the color coats, it must here be stated that it re- 
quires a good degree of workmanship to do it well. 

b. As to the tools used, nothing but a camel hair 
mottler or color brush should be used, (see Fig. 41) as 
the color should be laid very evenly and without brush 
marks. One thing the novice should learn to guard 
against is the brushing his work crossways at the ends. 
This should be avoided and it should be done by work- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 85 

ing the brush back and forth in one direction only and 
with an easy and even motion. 

b. Each color requires a somewhat different man- 
ner of handling, but on the whole this much can be said : 
never to put them on too thickly, and if the color is very 
transparent it is better to give the job more coats than 
to risk spoiling the smoothness of the surface of the job 
produced upon it by the rough stuffing process, 

c. It goes without the saying it again that no lin- 
seed oil is permissible in the application of color coats 
and that the thinner used for binding them should be 
varnish thinned with turpentine. 

d. While jobs require special treatment of their own 
from the ground up, they should first be cleaned of all 
dirty marks on the bare wood, then carefully oiled over 
with clear linseed oil, sand papered and painted over 
with a keg lead coat, thinned with i part of raw linseed 
oil with 3 parts turpentine. The puttying should be 
done on this coat, then it should be followed up with 
another thinned with only half as much raw linseed oil 
as the first had, with a corresponding increase of tur- 
pentine; then after lightly sand papering it, apply a 
coat of flake white thinned sufficiently to work freely 
under the brush. This flake white coat should be thinned 
with hard drying finishing varnish. These coats 
should be very smoothly and evenly put on and should 
be followed up with hard drying finishing varnish in 
which a little of the flake white has been added to hide 
the yellow tinge of the varnish. When dry rub with 



86 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 




Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 87 

pumice stone and apply another coat of the same var- 
nish, which should be treated as before. 

THE ORNAMENTATION. 

52. a. Some coach painters do the ornamentation 
and striping upon the last coat of color, but it is much 
better and safer to first give the job a coat of quick dry- 
ing rubbing varnish and to lightly rub it down with 
pumice stone, being careful not to cut it through into the 
color. This will act as a protection and prevent fatal 
results upon the surface as mistakes can be cleaned off' 
the varnish coating which it would be impossible to do 
over the color coat itself. 

The ornamentation consists in fine, medium and 
broad lines or striping, scroll work, coat of arms and 
other ornaments, lettering, etc., etc., according as to 
what the job is; each having its own fashions as to the 
decoration, be it a coach, carriage, car, business wagon 
or whatever other name and kind the vehicle may be. 

b. The striping requires skill, so a novice will do 
well to acquire considerable of that before he under- 
takes the striping upon a good job, for he must have 
that and a good amount of confidence in himself to 
make a success of it. For the tools needed to do the 
work with the reader is referred to Fig. 37 for the 
shape of quill bound striping brush and to Fig. 43 for 
the sword striper, which is used in making fine lines. 

Colors for striping should be mixed with varnish, 
japan and turpentine, tempering these to suit the job 



86 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

and color used upon it, some colors requiring a lit- 
tle more of one and less of another than some others 
would. 

c. A great deal of the ornamentation done upon ve- 
hicles is by means of transfers. These transfers are 
printed in colors upon a specially prepared paper which 
is applied face downward upon tacky varnish on the 
job, or sometimes the varnish is applied to the ornament 
itself and then applied to the place wanted. After 
smoothing over the transfer, the paper is sponged on 
the back with clean water which it will absorb and swell, 
when it can be slipped about and off the job, leaving the 
ornament upon it held tightly by the varnish under it. 

d. Hand ornamentation requires both skill and time. 
Only such as possess the first should undertake it, as an 
eyesore and loss of reputation would surely result from 
a botched job. All colors used in ornamentation re- 
quire the same thinning and treatment as was described 
in Sec. B of this paragraph. 

Sign writing upon vehicles, aside from the fact 
that it is done in coach colors thinned in the same man- 
ner as stated in section b of this paragraph is done in 
very much the same manner as is fully described under 
the heading of Sign Painting, so the reader is referred 
to paragraphs 260 to 277 for fuller information. 

THE VARNISHING. 

53, a. The varnishing of vehicles is a very partic- 
ular branch of the coach painter's trade. It is almost 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 89 

needless to have to warn against varnishing a job where 
it will be subjected to dust, changes of temperature and 
the thousand and one other causes which will make 
varnish go wrong. Only those who are familiar with 
the host of "make-varnish-go-wrong-agencies" have 
any idea of their multitude and extent. It also seems as 
needless to say that it requires skill and experience. 
Under the heading of varnishing, fuller directions are 
given as to the "how to do the work" and the reader is 
referred to paragraphs 312 to 317 for fuller informa- 
tion, but there are some peculiarities about the varnish- 
ing of vehicles which are their own and which are noted 
below. 

The skimpy, skinny manner of putting on varnish 
some workmen have who are always afraid of putting 
on too much and who brush out the little they put on 
to the last limit, will never make good carriage var- 
nishers. Even the rubbing coats are the better for hav- 
ing been flowed on, and they should be so put on es- 
pecially in shops where jobs can be tipted. 

It is necessary to caution especially against doing the 
varnishing in any place where dust cannot be kept 
out and where the temperature be regulated with uni- 
formity in cold weather. 

THE RUBBING COATS. 

54. a. The job should receive two heavy coats of 
rubbing varnish which is much better than double that 
number of coats put on thinly. As soon as dry, which 
will require two days, the rubbing may be done. 



90 Modern Painter's Cycldpedia 

h. The needed material consists in a rubbing pad 
of felt which can be bought ready made at suppl}' stores. 
These pads are prepared specially for all sorts of pur- 
poses in varnish rubbing. It is made of felt of different 
degrees of hardness and texture and varies in thickness 
from 34 to 2 inches. Chamois skins, sponges, pails for 
water and o or oo pumice stone. The Italian kind is 
much the best, running even and free of grit. Some of 
the American is very poor and especially gritty, for that 
reason it should not be employed in carriage rubbing as 
it would scratch the life out of a job. 

c. The job should be washed perfectly clean and 
dried by rubbing it over with a chamois skin, then it is 
ready to be rubbed. This operation is done by first dip- 
ping the pad into clean water then into the box holding 
the pulverized pumice stone ; then proceeding to rub the 
mouldings and outside edges of panels, then proceed- 
ing towards the center where the rubbing should end. 
The rubbing should all be done in one direction, or as 
much as possible at least, and should be very carefully 
made. After the operation has been completed the job 
should be well washed and cleaned of the pumice stone 
and again dried with chamois skin. When all moisture 
has been completely dried it is then ready for the flow- 
ing finishing coats. 

THE FLOWING FINISHING COATS. 

55. As the name indicates these coats should be 
"Howed" on for good results, or the mirror like surface 
which all the previous operations have led to step by 



Modern Painters Cyclopedia 



91 




92 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

step, will have been done to no avail. In putting on the 
flowing coats do all the parts adjacent to the panels first, 
finishing the wide panels last. The brush should al- 
ways be loaded full of varnish for in that condition the 
job can be gone over more quickly and easily. It should 
be cross brushed lightly before finally laying it off. 
See paragraph 312 to 317, under the heading "Var- 
nishing," for fuller information. 

56. The varnishing of running gears is somewhat 
easier to do properly than that of bodies, but requires 
skill too. Only a small surface should be gone over at 
a time before laying off and it takes a watchful work- 
man to put it on. Much care should be taken to prevent 
dust and good cleaning done before and after each op- 
eration. In putting on rubbing varnish on the wheels 
always lay it off after having gone over half a dozen 
spokes or so. 

QUESTIONS ON CARRIAGE, CAR OR COACH PAINTING. 

39. Give a synopsis of the difference between car- 
riage painting and ordinary out door oil painting. 

40. a. What kind of brush is used in priming ? 

b. What kinds of brushes are used in rough 

stuffing ? 

c. What kinds of brushes are needed for color 

laying? 

d. What kinds of brushes are used for var- 

nishing? 

e. What kind of brush is used for cleaning? 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 93 

/. What tool is used in painting spokes ? 
g. What brushes are needed in striping and 
ornamenting ? 

42. What is said regarding the material used ? 

43. What is priming? 

44. a. What are the lead coats? h. What is a 
flat lead coat ? 

45. What is a rub lead coat? 

46. What is knifing in lead ? 

47. How is carriage putty made and applied? 

48. How is the sandpapering done? 

49. a. What is rough stuff? 

h. What material is chiefly used in mixing 
rough stuff? 

c. How should it be put on? 

d. What is a guide coat? 

50. a. How is rough stuff rubbed ? 
h. How is rough stuff made? 

c. How is it performed? 

51. a. What is said in a general way concerning 

the color coats ? 
b. Are all colors used in color coats to be used 

in the same manner ? 
C. Should linseed oil be used in the painting of 

color coats? 

d. How would you proceed to paint a white 

job? 

52. a. What is said regarding ornamentation? 
h. How is striping done ? 



94 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

c. What are transfers? 

d. What is said of hand decoration? 

e. What is said of sign work on vehicles ? 

53. What is said generally of varnishing? 

54. How is rubbing done? 

55. How is flowing varnish put on? 

56. How are running gears varnished? 

CHINA PAINTING. 

57. China painting differs radically from any other 
sort in a number of ways. 

It is of course out of the question to think of using 
linseed oil and ordinary artists' colors mixed with it, as 
then the painting would be subject to many vicissitudes, 
it would be easily scratched, marred and even rubbed 
off, besides it would be impossible to use them 
upon the table as food carriers or holders, for 
many of the colors are poisonous and none of 
them very appetizing, and most persons would as soon 
have them remain upon the platters or plates, much 
rather than having them mixed up with their food. At 
best such painting would render the article so painted 
good for show only, but unfitted for use ; to be hung 
upon the wall or placed on a shelf to look at, the same as 
any other oil painting done on canvas. 

The requirements of china painting are that both the 
colors and the medium used in their application 
shall be zntrifiablc and assimilate or be capable of being 
incorporated with the blank china upon which the 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 95 

painting is done that the two shall form but one in- 
separable whole and become one integral part of it. 

Therefore to accomplish this the colors must be either 
vitrifiable of themselves or be made so by a flux mixed 
with them that will attach them with an artificial coat- 
ing under the influence of a high degree of heat which 
melts it. 

As the coloring matter of many of the colors used in 
china painting are not developed until the china has 
been fired (put into a kiln and burned) it can easily be 
understood that in that alone it would differ from any 
other painting and must cause a novice some anxiety at 
first as to just what will be the results of his labor, as 
he cannot always perceive what progress has been made 
or whether the painting has been rightly or wrongly 
done. At best he is likely to spoil a few pieces in learn- 
ing by experience just how to handle these changeable 
undeveloped colors. This is probably the most trouble- 
some point of difference between china painting and 
any other. 

MATERIAL REQUIRED. 

58. There are to be found at the present time a 
great number of ready prepared colors with plates show- 
ing the exact coloring of each, just as they will appear 
after the firing. This simplifies the otherwise difficult 
task of knowing what color one must select for obtain- 
ing certain results. These ready prepared colors have 
the flux ready mixed with them or are in the shape of 



96 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 




Plate Vni. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 97 

powders to which the flux must be added. Upon the 
whole it will be best for novices, as well as others, to use 
moist vitrifiable colors in tubes. These are nearly all 
the go now among amateur and professional china 
painters. They save the tedious and annoying methods 
of goneby days when it was necessary to prepare the 
medium by the slow processes of evaporation of spirits 
of turpentine and of oil of tar to make the fat oils of 
each. Everything can be bought ready prepared and 
ready to use. It has rendered a great service to the 
many who have taken up the painting of china as a 
pastime and for the many who now find pleasure from 
this employment of their spare time who would have 
been deterred from the undertaking but for this saving 
of drudgery. 

Small slabs with depressions upon them to lay colors 
upon and to hold fluxes, mediums, etc., should be pro- 
cured. Gold, platinuni, etc. Gold and other metals 
used in decorating china can also be bought ready for 
use in all the shades of the metal and the different 
alloys. 

One should also be well supplied with many different 
sizes of camel's hair brushes to lay the colors with; a 
list of useful accessory tools and appliances would make 
up a fair sized pamphlet. As the description without 
the illustration of such by cuts would be more likely to 
be misunderstood than otherwise, the reader is advised 
to send to some of the art stores in our larger cities for 
an illustrated catalogue which will give him, for the ask- 



98 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

ing, a very full understanding of all the tools, brushes 
and appliances needed in china painting, besides giving 
him the price at which each is sold. 

THE PAINTING. 

59. Either outline the design upon the china with a 
lithographic pencil or with black leads. Some use India 
ink in outlining as it burns out entirely during the firing 
process, leaving the design painted free of outline 
marks and for that reason it is preferred by many. 

After the design has been laid out, proceed to paint it 
on by mixing the colors needed with the medium and 
applying them with a brush. 

The powder colors should be laid on a slab and be 
worked into a stiff paste with the fat oil which is after- 
ward reduced to the proper working consistency by 
thinning with spirits of turpentine. 

Those in tubes should be thinned according to direc- 
tions. 

60. After the ware has been painted it is necessary 
that it should be fired in an oven to vitrify the colors 
and bind them to the china. These ovens are portable, 
many of them, and are made small enough to suit the 
requirements of those who do not paint china in a com- 
mercial way. Again as in all our larger cities persons 
are found who fire china for an amateur clientele, many 
of these prefer to patronize them to save the expense 
and trouble of owning a furnace. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 99 

QUESTIONS ON CHINA PAINTING. 

57. What is said about china painting in general? 

58. What material is required ? 

59. How is the painting done ? 

60. What must be done to vitrify the colors? 

COLORS. 

61. Colors or pigments are of the utmost impor- 
tance to the paint trade and it should be a subject of 
great interest to every one who handles a brush. They 
should be well understood by men who make daily use 
of them, for without an intimate knowledge of their 
properties and peculiarities the painting done with them 
may or may not be all that it should be. Many a good 
job well brushed on has gone wrong because of the ig- 
norance of the painter who mixed the paint. 

It will be impossible in a work of this size to devote 
as much space to the subject as it requires, but of all 
the most important at least, an explanation of their 
derivation, composition, manufacture and uses will be 
given. Their chief properties will be considered and 
warning given of their antipathies for other pigments. 

For the purpose of examination the colors will be 
placed in groups — not because of nearness of relation 
to each other, nor of their chemical composition, be- 
cause colors with but little difference in their chemis- 
cry may be of an entirely different color as the ferric 
oxide colors show — ochre being yellow, while the Ve- 
netian reds are red. So the colors will be grouped ac- 



100 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

cording to their coloring regardless of their composi- 
tion. 

62. Pigments are derived from each of the various 
kingdoms according as they are most important to the 
trade. First, those derived from the metals, as the 
leads, the ferric oxides, the zinc whites, those of copper 
origin, etc. Second, that numerous branch derived from 
the mineral kingdom, as the ochres, umbers, siennas, 
whiting, gypsum, etc. 

Third, those derived from the vegetable kingdom, as 
most of the lakes. 

Fourth, those of animal origin, as carmine, etc. 

63. While pigments can thus be classed according 
to their origin, they must be reclassed again for the pur- 
pose of examination and grouped together not accord- 
ing to their formation but according to their color. 

This will not only greatly facilitate the work but a 
comparison with others of the same color can be made 
more readily. Therefore they will be placed together 
into seven general groups. In each group the pigments 
which come nearest to its color will be classed. It is 
true that a few pigments will seem out of place as they 
border so near to another group that it is hard to tell 
which has the most claims for it, but only very few 
such cases will need bother one — the orange chrome yel- 
lows — some of the deeper one are really more '-cd than 
yellow — and but for the fact that under the name of 
chrome yellow remarks are made which belong to the 
whole range of color of those yellows, no matter what 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 101 

their tone may be, they would have been included in the 
red — but for reasons stated they are best placed with 
the yellows. It saves useless repetition or the need of 
referring the reader to the proper paragraphs giving 
the explanations. 

64. a. For convenience sake then, the various pig- 
ments of real value to the painter have been classed in 
the seven following groups : 

1. The whites. 

2. The reds. 

3. The yellows. 

4. The blues. 

5. The greens. 

6. The browns. 

7. The blacks. 

b. As each pigment varies in character from others 
and better adapted to some uses than to others — some 
being worthless in oil, while they may be invaluable as 
water colors and vice-versa, they must not be judged 
by their unfitness for work to which they are not 
adapted. 

THE WHITES. 

65. a. As the whites are by far the most important 
of all the pigments used in painting, it is fitting that 
they should be placed at the head of the list. This is 
due to them, not only because of their self color, in 
which they are used in enormous quantities, but also 
because they are the dominant pigment or base upon 



102 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

which all light tints made by the addition of other col- 
oring pigments are effected. 

b. Whites are chiefly the products of the salts of the 
metal lead and that of zinc (its oxide and only white 
form). The rest of the whites being natural earths of 
various composition and extraction. In examining 
them the metallic whites being the ones mostly used will 
be placed at the head of the list. 

THE METALLIC WHITES. 

66. a. White lead heads the list by undisputed' 
right, it being heads and shoulders ahead of any of the 
other whites, many times over more than all the others 
put together for out and indoor oil painting and well it 
deserves it. Its great covering power due to its opacity, 
(when the word covering is used in connection with a 
pigment it does not mean its spreading capacity so 
much as its opaqueness in hiding the coats of paint over 
which it is applied). 

b. Its peculiarities are that it forms a linoleate lead 
soap with linseed oil which renders it smooth and easy 
of application. This saponification does not extend to 
all the oil necessary to its application and it is a pity that 
it does not, as when dry the lead soap thus formed is 
insoluble. 

White lead should never be used where sulphurous 
fumes are generated, especially where sulphuretted hy- 
drogen gas is developed, as it greedily assimilates it and 
is turned into a black sulphide of lead. This change 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 103 

will sometimes occur over night. The atoms composing 
the lead seem to have no affinity for one another and it 
is no doubt due to this reason that whenever the linseed 
oil commences to decay that having nothing to hold 
them on they dust or chalk off, as under the name this 
peculiarity is best known. It is true that white lead, 
even the best of it, chalks, but if the painting has been 
done with good linseed oil the chalking will not com- 
mence so soon, nor really is this peculiarity worth men- 
tioning as a fault. A good coat of paint given soon 
after the lead is noticed to chalk will rebind on all these 
particles and the surface even when let go for sometime 
after that will always be in a good condition for re- 
painting as white lead never scales off that has been ap- 
plied with raw linseed oil. 

c. The best qualities of the white lead of commerce 
known to the paint trade as "strictly pure" is that cor- 
roded by the "Dutch Process." This means that di- 
lute acetic acid, carbonic acid, oxygen and hydrogen 
are furnished to the lead in more or less ingenious ways 
and that those agents corrode and combine with the lead 
and that the product of the combination is what is 
known as white lead. White lead is a basic carbonate 
of lead, or to be more correct, an hydrate oxide carbon- 
ate of lead. The proportion may vary somewhat, but 
that agreed upon as being the best is about 1/3 hy- 
droxide of lead and 2/3 carbonate of that metal — more 
of the hydrate means better opacity but more chalking 



104 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

propensity. More carbonate means less opacity but also 
less chalking. 

d. There are two methods of corroding lead under 
the "Dutch Process" so called system, the stack and the 
cylinder methods. 

The stack method consists in placing what are known 
as buckles (these are thin perforated discs of metallic 
lead) into porous earthenware pots of somewhat the 
same texture as flower pots. These have a space at the 
bottom to hold dilute acetic acid of the strength of or- 
dinary vinegar and, along the sides are projections serv- 
ing to keep the buckles apart. This and the perfora- 
tions in the disc permits the acetic vapor and the car- 
bonic acid gas to come into contact with the lead. First 
a floor of manure or tan bark or a combination of the 
two is laid down at the bottom of the stack, then a row 
of empty jars which are afterward filled with buckles to 
nearly the top, then dilute acetic acid is furnished to 
each jar through a hose with a nozzle. Then the tier 
is covered over with boards which again are covered 
with manure or tan bark and the same operations are 
repeated until the stack is completed to the top. The 
stack starts from the ground upward to what might be 
called the second story, but which in corroding houses 
is known as the working alley, as all the material is first 
received there to be placed in the stacks, a row of these 
extending on both sides of it to any length desired. The 
compartments called stacks being about 8 or lo feet 
wide by about 12 to 16 feet long. There are stacks in 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 105 

the corroding houses in all stages of completion. Some 
finished and the jars containing corroded lead being 
taken out, others being filled, and so on. It requires 
about three months to complete the corrosion, which 
goes on as long as any acetic acid remains and enough 
he;at in generated by the manure to evaporate it and 
furnish carbonic acid, the main element absorbed by the 
lead to make itself what it is — a basic carbonate of lead. 
Were it not for carbonic acid being present and the lead 
having more affinity for it than for the acetic, then it 
would simply become an acetate of that metal — of no 
value whatever as a pigment. 

c. The cylinder method is an entirely different sys- 
tem of applying the same elements entering into the lead 
corrosion, i. e., acetic acid, carbonic acid, oxygen and 
hydrogen, than that of the stack system, and produces a 
lead of the same chemical composition. 

The lead in place of being cast into buckles is melted 
and while it is being poured out, a jet of live steam is 
played against it, reducing it to very small globules of 
about the fineness of ordinary sand. This sand is 
placed in revolving cylinders (hence the name of the 
system) which are connected with generators which 
furnish it with acetic acid vapors, carbonic acid gas, 
oxygen and the proper moisture for hydrogen. These 
cylinders revolve slowly all the time and the particles of 
lead being very fine are soon acted upon and the whole 
mass becomes pretty thoroughly corroded inside of 
three to six days. Besides the corrosion is nearly com- 



106 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

plete, there being very little if any uncorroded blue or 
metallic lead remaining after the operation is over — 
which cannot be said of the stack process. 

/. Space forbids giving an extended description of 
the various handlings of the lead after it is corroded, 
before it is finally ground and packed ready for con- 
sumption in the way the painter is accustomed to buy it. 
There is no material difference between the two leads 
produced by either system. The difference is in the ap- 
plication of the corroding agents and time required 
with which operations the manufacturer is more con- 
cerned than the painter. The cylinder system does 
away with the application of manure, heat and carbonic 
acid being furnished from other sources. This manure, 
or rather fine particles of it, are very hard to keep out 
entirely in the stack system of corrosion. It is true that 
infinite pains are taken by conscientious manufacturers 
by repeated washings in water and fine silk gauze strain- 
ing to get all such out, but even with such precautions, 
either through neglect or the human depravity of some 
of the workmen, it is not unusual to find little specks of 
it occasionally in some of the lead corroded by that 
system of which the cylinder lead is entirely free. 

No one should be deterred from using either as the 
difference is immaterial ; it is of course possible to make 
very poor pure lead by both systems and to have it off 
color and badly ground or packaged, but of that neither 
methods are responsible for. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 107 

SUBLIMED LEAD. 

67. Sublimed lead is white and but that it would 
create confusion in caUing it "white lead" because it 
would then be confounded with what has become a well 
known article, which, when it has been labeled "strictly 
pure" is supposed to mean, "hyd-carb, of lead" and 
nothing else, but for confusing the two it would be en- 
titled to the name. But it would be unwise to open up 
a door which would break up the distinction between 
the two and to return to that state of uncertainty which 
in the past was so annoying and which it took so much 
fighting for, to establish upon the firm foundation it 
stands upon today. 

Sublimed lead is a basic sulphate of lead containing 
in its composition some lead oxide with a small per- 
centage of zinc oxide. It has much to recommend it 
for many purposes to which it is well adapted. It is 
extremely fine, so much so, that its particles float in oil 
without readily settling, making it an ideal dipping 
white paint. It is not affected by sulphureted hy- 
drogen gas, fatal to most all other salts of lead. It is 
somewhat less opaque than Dutch process white lead, 
therefore does not cover quite so well. It is produced by 
the vaporisation of lead ore. These vapors are con- 
ducted to chambers above where they come in contact 
with oxygen contained in atmospheric air, combining 
with it, form the oxy-sulphate of lead. This transfor- 
mation takes place in a somewhat similar manner as that 
which is described for the manufacture of zinc white 



108 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

(see paragraph 69). At the present time it is being 
used in large quantities by manufacturers of ready 
mixed paints and color grinders, but so far it has not 
appeared under its own name in its white state, but is 
found in many of the compound whites manufactured 
by color grinders. 

68. There are several other salts of lead that are 
white, such as the white oxide of lead and some other 
compound salts of that metal, none of which, however, 
have proven themselves formidable rivals of "white 
lead" all having so many faults that the ones related as 
appertaining to Dutch process white lead seem "venial" 
when compared to theirs. 

ZINC WHITE. 

69. a. Is the white and only oxide of that metal. 
For painting material it is a very valuable pigment and 
after "white lead" is next to that, the most exten- 
sively used of all the white pigments by all classes of 
painters with the exception of the carriage trade. 

Its peculiarities are all its own and differ widely 
from those of white lead. It has more spreading power 
and absorbs more oil. It is not so opaque and in con- 
sequence does not cover so well as that pigment, but if 
its spreading power be taken into consideration, a given 
weight of it would probably cover over as much and as 
well as the same quantity of white lead would if 
thinned out sufficiently to cover as many square feet of 
surface as the zinc did. Zinc white cannot be applied 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 109 

with the same amount of linseed oil as would suffice to 
render the white lead thin enough to work well with the 
brush, as it is much lighter in weight. 

One of its peculiarities, is the great affinity existing 
between its atoms for each other, it is so great that after 
the oil has decayed they will hang together into a scale 
but never chalk off. In this respect it is the very oppo- 
site of white lead whose atoms we have seen have no 
affinity and which fall singly in what is known as 
chalking when the oil holding them together has de- 
cayed. But while this great adherence of its particles is 
good in some ways it has its faults too, in that when 
the oil has decayed instead of falling off single or 
chalking they hold together until they fall off as scales. 

Zinc white therefore is a good corrective to combine 
with white lead for outside painting while the lead 
itself is a good corrective for the too great affinity of 
its own particles. The zinc preventing the chalking 
off of the lead and the lead its scaling propensities. 

b. Zinc white is a very fine pigment to use in dis- 
temper, covering well and the tints made with it when 
used as a base are invariably cleaner and purer toned 
than those made with any other white as a base. The 
above also holds true for any tint made from it as a 
base with colors in oil. 

It is invaluable for all enamelling work when ground 
in varnish. Some of the better kinds of French 
*^ocess made zinc whites are so very white in tone 



110 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

that ordinary white lead shows a yellowish tone when 
placed side by side together. 

Zinc white is the oxide of that metal and is made in 
two different ways — but by the same process of oxida- 
tion. Thes^ two methods are known as the "French" 
and as the "American." The zinc white made by the 
so called French process is manufactured from the 
metal, while that named American from the zinc ore 
instead. 

THE FRENCH PROCESS. 

c. Zinc white made by the French process is pro- 
duced by placing metallic zinc in retorts or ovens where 
it is vaporized by heat — this vapor is conducted to 
upper chambers which are supplied with fresh atmos- 
pheric air for which the zinc has a great affinity in the 
state of vapor and with which it instantly combines 
when it comes in contact with it. From the ceil- 
ings of these chambers hang long sacks with their 
mouths opened and closely fitted together into which 
the floculent feathery oxide rises up and is caught up 
in these. The oxide which is caught the farthest away 
from the openings through which the zinc vapor arises 
from the retorts is the whitest and best — that which is 
caught nearest the openings usually containing more 
or less of foreign matter in the shape of dust, etc., 
which finds its way from the retorts into the chamber. 
This feathery mass is next subjected to a powerful 
compression when it is then ground up and packaged 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 111 

ready for the market in a dry state or to be ground 
up in oil or varnish. 

THE AMERICAN PROCESS. 

d. The American process of making zinc white is 
essentially the same as that related for the French, 
differing from it only in the shape of the raw ma- 
terial. Instead of using the metallic zinc, zinc ore be- 
comes the provider. That is placed in the retorts and 
vaporized in the same manner as related for the French 
process. However, as the ore contains so much more 
foreign matter and impurities the zinc white thus ob- 
tained is inferior in whiteness and quality to the first 
and is sold for less money than the other. 

c. The name of French zinc has lost its significance 
as to being an index as to the source of supply of that 
article as today there is as good a quality of French 
process zinc made in America and which commands 
as good a price as any zinc white imported from 
Europe. 

In both the French and American zinc white the 
first and second qualities are designated as green and 
red seal respectively. The green denoting the best qual- 
ity — the red the second. 

THE EARTH WHITES. 

70. a. Earth zvhites so called are all of mineral 
origin and according as they contain as a base either 
lime, clay, or sand are known as cretaceous, aluminous 



112 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

or silicious. All possess somewhat different properties, 
each being better than any of the others for certain 
specific purposes. 

b. Cretaceous earths are chiefly used in water colors 
and for that matter all earth whites are at their best 
in distemper and have that much in common, excepting 
when they are used in oils as adjuncts, correctives or 
adulterants for the metallic whites or any of the color- 
ing pigments where each differ materially from the 
other. 

The principal pigment with a cretaceous base is- 
whiting or the carbonate of line, all others being 
simply variations of it more or less impure. Whiting 
is used in immense quantities as a base upon which to 
make the tints used in the printing of wall paper. As 
the main base in mixing tints for calcimme or in its 
self color, it reigns supreme and nearly all the ready 
prepared calcimine found on the market contain it as the 
main ingredient in their preparation. As an adjunct 
to graining colors in oil it is highly valued as it enables 
the grainer to reduce the strength of his colors so they 
can be thinned much more than would be possible but 
for the addition of the whiting. 

The only other cretaceous pigment of value which 
differs from whiting materially is Gypsum or the sul- 
phate of lime. It does not work quite so well as whit- 
ing in water colors and is seldom used as such without 
a special preparation which is patented and too intri- 
cate for use by the general painter. It is the base used 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 113 

in all the so called anti-kalsomine paints patented prep- 
arations. It is too transparent in oil to be of any use 
as a self paint but is valuable in the preparation of 
Venetian red where it becomes its base. It is also use- 
ful as a corrective in many of the other colors and 
in the compounding of white paints. 

There used to be a number of whites in the markets 
some years ago such as Spanish white, London and 
other fancy named whites, which were prepared from 
whiting and from which they differed only in the form 
given it of pyramidal drops or cakes. 

c. The only pigment with an aluminous base is 
"China clay" which is worth mentioning. It possesses 
more body in oil than those of the preceding class and 
when well cleaned of foreign matter makes a good 
water color paint. On account of its body, if such may 
be called a semi-transparent muddy looking stuff in its 
self color in oil it is used as an adjunct and corrective 
in many white paints which come ready prepared but 
it is used most frequently as an adulterant. 

d. The silicious whites are represented by the white 
silicate earths. Some are found that are of a clean 
white but most of them are generally off color. The 
white ones are used in the preparation of "English 
kalsomine" and used as water colors but they 
are very inferior to whiting for such a purpose. Their 
greatest utility as pigments lays in the silicate earth's 
use as correctives to the white metallic pigments and 
as such also for several other colors. For such a pur- 



114 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

pose they are used in very large quantities by the paint 
grinders, but are seldom bought as such and com- 
pounded by the consumer. 

BARYTES. 

71. a. Last but not least among the whites comes 
Barytes. Barytes in its native state is better known 
as heavy spar. This is ground, washed and is pre- 
pared for market according to the qualities it may 
possess. It is very heavy and in its natural state as 
clear as quartz. 

b. Its utility as a pigment is, to say the least, 
"questionable," From its transparency one may infer 
that as an oil color it would cover very little better than 
the linseed oil used in spreading it and for water colors 
it is inferior and more costly than whiting. It is true 
that when it has been prepared to the condition when it 
takes the name of "Blanc-fixe" it is highly prized by 
artists for use as an indestructible white in water colors 
' — but then it is not in the same shape as the barytes of 
commerce. In the latter shape barytes is an intimate 
friend of almost every color and every package of 
adulterated color or cheap ready mixed paint contains 
a good proportion of it. Its great clearness and trans- 
parency permits its use in almost any percentage that 
the greed of the manufacturer would suggest to him 
that it should be used or that the ability to unload it 
upon an unsuspecting public would permit. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 115 

THE REDS. 

y2. The red constitute a numerous class of pig- 
ments. They are derived from the metallic, mineral, 
vegetable and animal kingdoms. They comprise a 
range of color tones varying from a red brown to the 
most brilliant scarlet reds bordering on the yellow. 

They will be reviewed according to their origin as 
derived from a metallic, mineral or vegetable kingdom. 

THE METALLIC REDS. 

y^. a. Red oxide is the most common form of 
the red pigments derived from iron. It enters into 
the make up of a number of various reds and in its 
pure state all by itself is most excellent. It is seldom 
sold under that name in a pure state nor is it neces- 
sary that it should when it is considered that 20 to 
25% of the pure color when added to any transparent 
base will cover solidly over any color black or white. 
It is so strong that unless it should be used for tinting 
it will bear reducing very much and still cover well. 
This addition of a cheaper material is legitimate under 
such a circumstance when it is known to the buyer and 
the cost of the paint reduced to him. 

b. Venetian red is supposedly a natural color, but 
that which is found upon the market today is certainly 
not of that character. It is made artificially and is 
much better for it, as then it can be made uniform in 
tone and texture which is not the case with any natural 
earth color. It is made upon a base of various kinds, 



116 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

the chief of which are barytes, whiting and gypsum to 
which red oxide of iron has been added. That made 
with a gypsum base is much the best and the quaHties 
known under the name of Enghsh Venetian red are 
usually of that quality. It contains about 25% of iron 
oxide and that is enough to enable it to cover over any- 
thing. That made upon a gypsum base is very perma- 
nent and the change noticed in pure red oxide due to a 
tendency to become hydrated making it more yellowish, 
is reduced to the minimum.* Thus made it is permanent. 

Turkey red, Pompeian reds of some, with others of 
many names really are only brighter specimen having 
been made by the addition of some very bright toned 
oxide of iron on bases similar to Venetian red and 
they should all be classed under that head and name. 
Besides the names are used by some manufacturers to 
designate an entirely different class of pigments es- 
pecially that known as Turkey red which is a dark 
purplish red of a rich lakey tone. 

All the reds derived from red oxide of iron made 
on a gypsum base are permanent or so nearly so as to 
warrant their being so called. All are useful in oil, 
japan and water colors and are used by all painters, 
decorators and artists. 

c. The Indian reds derive their coloring matter from 
the peroxide of iron. At one time they used to be 
imported but now they are altogether of home manu- 
facture, being much more even in texture and colorinf^ 
matter than those which were mined and prepared 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 117 

from the Asiatic ore. Indian reds have a range of 
tones of an entirely different order from that of the 
Venetian reds, being of a purphsh shade of red ranging 
from pale to dark. They are very useful in producmg 
tints with white. The light toned Indian red produc- 
ing tints of rosy lilac while the dark produce tones of 
a violet lilac. They can be used in oil coach and water 
color work. They and their shades are permanent. 

These are all the red pigments derived from iron. 
It is true that there are a number of reds for sale 
in artists' colors especially which owe their coloring 
matter to either ferric oxide or the peroxide but not- 
withstanding their high sounding name they can all 
be classed as shades of either Venetian or Indian reds. 

d. The Tuscan reds are included with the metallic 
reds because their base is usually Indian red plus some 
of the whites. They owe their beautiful tones to a dye 
in which they are plunged and which they absorb. If 
they have absorbed much of it they are classed after- 
ward as deep Tuscan — if less as light Tuscan reds. It 
depends upon what the dyeing agent is, as to the beau- 
tiful tone being permanent or not. If made rich by a 
cheap aniline dye they will fade quickly — if from an 
alizarin one they will be permanent. They, like the 
Indian red, of whose nature they mainly partake, are 
useful for all sorts of painting in oil, japan or dis- 
temper but unlike the Indian red they do not produce 
very good tints with the whites. 



118 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

THE RED PIGMENTS DERIVED FROM LEAD. 

74. Red lead is the bi-oxide of that metal. It is 
made by roasting in retorts either the monoxide of lead 
or white lead or even the metal itself. They are kept 
in those revolving retorts until they acquire the proper 
amount of oxidation. Red lead while permanent in its 
constituent parts, fades to a lighter tone of yellow red 
as it has a tendency to return to a monoxide — its more 
natural condition. It is one of the best pigments known 
for the priming of iron and all metals and for such a 
purpose is used in enormous quantities. 

75. a. Orange mineral is the ter-oxide of iron and 
is usually made from white lead which is off color 
from one cause or another. It carries more oxygen in 
its composition than red lead and is of a richer tone, 
but it also- is not permanent, and will loose its extra 
oxidation and return to the monoxide. Both are sub- 
ject to that foe of all lead salts except the sulphate 
— sulplmreted hydrogen gas. 

b. American vermillion is a pigment made from 
white lead and bichromate of potash. It is crystallic 
in form and should not be ground fine as that de- 
stroys the color. Since the advent of the vermillion 
reds it has lost ground until it is little known to the 
present generation of painters. 

ENGLISH VERMILLION OR QUICKSILVER VERMILLION. 

76. a. English or quicksilver vermillion in the 
shape of native cinnabar which is a sulphuret of mer- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 119 

cury is found in all parts of the world where quick- 
silver is mined. Yet little if any ever finds its way to 
the market as such. All the quicksilver vermillion is 
artificially made. The process while easy to understand 
is nevertheless somewhat intricate and too lengthy to 
describe fully enough to be understood in the space 
available. It is first made into a black sulphuret by the 
addition of eight parts of sulphur to one of mercury 
which turns it into a black sulphuret which is its natural 
condition and afterwards it is sublimed when it is 
changed into the red which is an artificial condition for 
it, hence its tendency to darken as it seeks to return to 
its natural condition and it will quickly do so if left 
unprotected by varnish from atmospheric air. 

b. It is used for a great many purposes but not 
to the same extent today that it was previous to the 
introduction of the para reds and other imitation ver- 
million reds. None can compare with it for richness or 
brilliancy of tone — but for its fugitiveness it would 
be the king of the reds. There are two varieties of it, 
one called the pale which is of a bright scarlet tone 
and the deep which has a bluish tinge and is of the 
amaranth order. The pale has a much better body or 
opacity than the deep and cannot be replaced by any 
other red for striping as it will cover solid over black 
which no other scarlet red will do in one coat. It is 
used chiefly by the carriage trade in a self color or as a 
ground to be glazed over with a carmine glaze. When 
well covered over by varnish and ground up in it, it 



120 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

will preset-ve its beautiful tone a long time before 
changing its color. 

THE IMITATION VERMILLIONS OR VERMILLION REDS. 

yy. a. Imitation vermillions, or vermillion reds as 
some know them, must not be confounded with Amer- 
ican vermillion as some erroneously call them, (See 
paragraph 75 h.) They are not chromates of lead, but 
are made some of them at least upon a white lead or a 
chromate of lead base upon which is thrown a dye 
from which the base absorbs the rich coloring matter 
giving them the rich tones which make them near rivals 
of quicksilver vermillion; but there the resemblance 
ends. The dyes used in giving them their tones vary 
very much — some of the cheaper reds being colored 
with the cheapest of aniline dyes, which are fugitive 
while the better grades are colored with cosine and 
the best with ahzarin. In the best of the vermilion 
reds such an excellence has been attained that they are 
much more permanent than quicksilver vermilion, if 
not quite so rich nor opaque. 

h. These reds are used for an infinity of purposes 
especially by coach painters, by agricultural implement 
manufacturers and all builders of machinery. They 
are as well adapted to water colors as they are to 
oil and japan work. They are known under an in- 
finity of proprietary names and come in all qualities as 
well as tones from scarlet to purple red. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 121 

THE RED LAKES. 

78. a. Lakes usually are transparent colors thrown 
upon a transparent base. They are chiefly used as 
glazing colors by artists and coach painters. Some of 
the lakes are only semitransparent and are used as self 
colors or in tinting — only more coats are required to 
cover solidly with them. 

It depends upon the bases used in some degree and 
to a greater degree still to the coloring agent used in 
giving them their color as to whether the lakes are 
good or bad, permanent or fugitive. The range of tone 
for the red lakes is great varying from a scarlet and 
carmine down the scale to a reddish brown. Carmine 
itself is derived from coloring obtained from cochineal, 
an insect. It is too fugitive for work requiring per- 
manency and has become supplanted by alizarin made 
lakes which are much more permanent and which equal 
the ones derived from madder. 

THE YELLOWS. 

78. a. The family of yellows is about of equal im- 
portance and to the house painter of greater value than 
the reds. The various yellow pigments are derived 
from the metallic, mineral and vegetable kingdoms while 
some are derived from a combination of these. 

THE OCHRES. 

b. Ochres while not the brightest in tone of the 
yellow pigments are by long odds the most useful of 



122 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

that color. They are permanent and are used in their 
self color or combined with the whites to make a wide 
range of tints from an ivory or cream to a buff and 
combined with other colors to make an infinity of 
tints. They may be placed in two general classes: 
the argillaceous and the silicious according as to which 
predominates in their base. The first are chiefly de- 
rived from America while the second comes from 
Europe. The argillaceous ochres are best adapted to 
water color work while the silicious ochres are much 
the best for oil painting especially if exposed out of 
doors. All ochres are natural earth products with 
an earth base colored with hydrate oxide of iron. They 
vary very much in the quality of this iron hyd-oxide. 
A volume could be written upon them and their pecu- 
liarities without exhausting the subject. The general 
house painter should never use the American or the 
argillaceous ochres for solid self painting nor priming 
for reasons assigned under heading entitled "Blistering 
of paint" (paragraph 4 c, which see). The silicate 
ochres or the genuine French and English are the only 
safe ones to use for such a purpose. 

CHROME YELLOWS. 

79. a. Chrome yellow or the neutral chromate of 
lead is the only one of all the shades and tones 
classed under that name which is really entitled to it as 
all other shades varying from it are either alkaline on 
one side or acid upon the other ; the canary and range 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 123 

of tones on the lemon order owing their lighter shade 
to sulphate of lead or rather to sulphuric acid which 
turns the lead to a sulphate and the range of the 
orange toned ones to lime or some other caustic alkali 
which turns them reddish. All shades owe their yellow 
tone to bichromate of potash which combines with the 
lead base to form the neutral and the other shades 
by the additions mentioned above. 

b. Chrome yellows are used in oil, coach or water 
color painting. It is well adapted to all kinds of paint- 
ing. The only limitation to their use is that under 
certain conditions they fade slightly or change their 
tone. Sulphureted hydrogen gases are as fatal to them 
as to white lead — that being a part of their make up. 
The sun's rays too have a tendency to cause them to 
change somewhat. But with all their faults there are 
no yellows so useful to the general painting trade. 
Should they disappear they would be sorely missed. 

The chrome yellows with their extended range of 
shades and tones comprising the whole gamut of yellow 
tones from the palest of canary to the deepest of orange 
have nearly driven out of the market a number of 
other yellows which were extensively used a few years 
ago such as orpiment, Naples yellow, etc. While fugi- 
tives they are less so than those they have replaced. 

80. A simple naming of the other yellows is all 
that will be necessary as their use has dwindled down 
to very small quantities and that mainly among artists 
and decorators of the old school. The only one of any 



124 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

great intrinsic value is lemon or baryta yellow. This 
is permanent and but for its greater cost and of its 
being more transparent than the lemon chrome yellow 
it would be used more than it is. 

Aureolin is a cobalt yellow very transparent even in 
water and difficult to handle. 

Gamboge, an old standard in oil colors, transparent 
and very fugitive. 

Indian yellow is of animal origin and when well 
prepared is of value to the artist. 

Dutch pink. A yellow lake derived from grinding 
tree barks of various kinds — and dyeing some base with 
them — of no great value even to the decorator in water 
colors. 

Naples yellozu. Not to be relied on, as it is fugitive : 
besides it is no good as a water color and some varieties 
of ochre mixed with whites will closely reproduce its 
tone. 

Vanadium yellozv — Kings yelloiv besides being poison- 
ous is not permanent. 

Yellow lake under which name most anything that 
is transparent and will do for glazing is sold — all being 
fugitive and of little value to the general painter. 

Under various fancy names the artists' catalogues 
are burdened with a host of proprietary named yellows 
belonging really to the ones already enumerated. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 125 

THE BLUES. 

8i. a. The blues are derived from metallic, min- 
eral, vegetable and animal sources and combinations of 
these. Outside of ultramarine blue, no blues are found 
in a natural state. 

b. Prussian blue in both the soluble and insoluble 
form are chemically about the same. The first is better 
known as Chinese and as soluble blue. Both are prus- 
siates of iron and are very useful in water or in oil 
colors. They will loose their color entirely by con- 
tact with fresh lime and are not entirely permanent 
in sunlight. They are very strong in coloring matter. 

c. Ultramarine blue is the most remarkable blue on 
the list. As said before it is the only blue found in 
nature in a developed state, but is difficult of extraction 
from its matrix "Lapis Lazuli," a semi-precious stone, 
so it was sold at an enormous price and royalty only 
could enjoy its use. It is produced artificially at a very 
low cost fully equal in quality or tone to the genuine. 
It is entirely permanent in sunlight or in contact 
with lime and has a range of tones from a greenish 
blue running to clear blue and on to a purplish cast of 
blue, the latter being much inferior in tone to the true 
blue. Ultramarine blue is made use of in all kinds of 
painting ground in oil, in japan or in water and all 
painters praise it highly. It is not nearly as strong in 
coloring matter as Prussia blue. 

d. Cobalt blue is a very pretty tone of light blue 
which when pure (which it is difficult to find) is de- 



126 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

rived from cobalt. It is universally made now by 
simply mixing enough zinc white to a clear blue ultra- 
marine to reduce it to the tone of the true cobalt blue 
so that practically it is only a tint of those two pig- 
ments. It is so easily made by admixture that few sup- 
ply stores carry it in stock. It is fully as permanent 
as its parents. 

e. Ceruleum is another cobalt color which can be 
readily imitated by using the greenish blue ultramarine 
reduced with zinc white. 

/. Indigo blue is derived from a plant and its use in 
either water colors or oil is confined to a few artists. 
\\^ith so many better blues to choose from, its name as 
a pigment might as well be forgotten. The scene 
painters use it mostly. 

The above comprise all the useful blues. Yet the 
manufacturers of artists' colors persist in loading down 
their catalogues with a long list of names to confuse the 
public with the false idea that such are distinct pig- 
ments when they are not. 

THE GREENS. 

82. a. A wide range of greens are fou.id in the 
market but they can be all classed in two groups, those 
whose tones incline towards the yellows and those which 
incline towards the blues. Green is a secondary and 
a compound color made from yellow and blue, so there 
is nothing very remarkable in the fact that its tones 
should incline one way or the other toward the parents, 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 127 

Greens are all made chemically, yet some dirty greenish 
black earths are found and classed as greens in some 
catalogues. 

b. Chrome greens as they are known in America 
are by far the most used of any of the greens. They 
are made by various combinations of Prussian blue 
and chrome yellow or their chemical equivalents and 
precipitated. Their range of tone is great from very 
light tender grass green nearly as bright as Paris green 
down to the deepest tones bordering on black. While 
not absolutely permanent, they are fairly so. Of course, 
lime will destroy the Prussian blue it contains. On the 
continent and especially in England chrome green is 
the named applied to the green oxide of chromium, a 
color little known or used here, but fairly permanent. 

c. Cobalt or zinc green, as some call it, is derived 
from that metal. It is permanent but as it can be very 
nearly duplicated by using a good green ultramarine 
and zinc white one might just as well call it a tint of 
those pigments and prepare it from them when needed. 

d. Viridian is an invaluable green to the artist but 
its great cost will hardly permit its use to the general 
painter. Much of it is adulterated and it is better to 
buy it only under the label and name of well known 
makers of artists' colors. 

e. Paris or emerald green as it is known in Eng- 
land is a very poisonous arsenical product. It is very 
transparent and only fit to glaze with. It should be 
discarded entirely. 



128 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

f. Verdigris. Another poisonous pigment derived 
from copper. It was used in the past much more than 
it is today. It is said to possess anti-fouling properties 
and is used by a few in the painting of boat bottoms. 
A few old time carriage painters still use it as a glaze 
but many general painters today die without having 
ever seen it and never miss it. 

Beside the above are to be found a large number 
of greens sold under proprietary names — all are various 
shades of chrome greens to which manufacturers have 
attached a trade mark name of their own. This creates - 
confusion, leading people to think that such are some 
different production — besides there is the usual array 
of fancy named greens of the artists' color catalogue, 
none better if as good as the well known colors de- 
scribed above. 

THE BROWNS. 

83. a. The Browns are produced in abundance in 
the natural state by mother earth. There are also to 
be found of metallic origin. To facilitate the under- 
standing of some of the brown earth pigments, it will 
be well to note that the burning of them has a tendency 
to change their tone. Those containing ferric oxide 
will become redder than they were in the raw state. 
Those containing manganese will become darker in 
tone. Nearly all the brown earth pigments are valu- 
able for one purpose or another in water colors to pro- 
duce neutral tint and for the same purpose in oil paint- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 129 

;ng or in japan for the coach painter. Some are very 
transparent, others only semi-transparent and such are 
of value to the grainer or for glazing to the carriage 
painter, artists and decorators. 

b. Umber, razv and burnt, vary very much in their 
composition. The best come from Asia Minor and are 
sold as Turkey umber. The raw is of a greenish brown 
and by burning is changed into a rich clear toned 
brown which in good umbers will be free of redness — • 
they are semi-transparent. They are useful in all kinds 
of painting and in all mediums. 

c. Siennas,, raw and burnt, like the umber vary 
greatly, so much so as to be hardly recognizable as 
being of the same nature — the poor, showing a muddy 
brownish red tone in the burnt, while the good has a 
rich subdued red which has a clear lakey transparency. 
For this reason the siennas are invaluable to the grainer 
and artists, who could not get along without it. It is 
used in oil, japan and water color painting. 

The raw owes its yellowish brown tone to its ferric 
oxide which is hydrated and which looses by burning, 
becoming red after that. 

d. Vandyke brown is a natural bituminous color 
found chiefly in bogs. It is known as Cassel earth, 
from the town in Germany near which it is produced. 
It is very transparent. It is useful as a glazing color in 
carriage painting and as a graining color to the grainer. 
It is not entirely permanent and for that reason, besides 



130 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

of its being a very poor dryer in linseed oil, it is not 
as extensively used now as it was. 

e. Asphaltum or mineral pitch, when well refined is 
useful as a glaze, it being very transparent. As it is 
liable to crack it is more useful in show card painting 
or for the painting of iron gratings, heat registers and 
such than for anything else. 

/. Metallic hrowns. Under that name a number 
of raw and calcined dark iron oxide paints are 
marketed, some becoming quite reddish by calcination, 
some being of that tone naturally. They have an ex-^ 
cellent body or opacity but that the tone of their 
color is not very attractive nor the tints made from 
them they would be used still more than they are. 
For freight car painting, bridge work, barns and the 
cheap outbuildings, roofs and all kinds of structural 
iron work they are used in immense quantities.' 

Under the name ought to be included such old time 
colors as Spanish brown, etc., which designation is still 
used on the eastern seaboard while it has become ob- 
solete in the middle west. 

THE BLACKS. 

84. a. The blacks play an important role in every 
department of painting. It is used largely as a self 
color in the painting of iron work, steam and other 
ships and carriages, coaches, etc. While as a tinting 
color with whites and as an adjunct to other colors to 
4arken them they are invaluable as tint producers. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 131 

Most of the blacks are of carbonic composition pro- 
duced in a natural state in black lead; derived from 
fats as in lampblack or from the calcination of the 
bones of animals as ivory black and again the product 
of the calcination of woods as in Brunswick black. 

b. Lampblack is produced by the incomplete com- 
bustion of fatty substances. It is very strong in color- 
ing matter, but only moderately black in tone. It pro- 
duces clean toned grays with whites and is the best 
black to use for the making of tints with any other 
colors. It is used more than any of the other blacks 
by sign and house painters and by the carriage trade 
for priming coats. It has more opacity than any other 
black excepting gas black, 

c. Gas black or carbon black is also a black pro- 
duced by the incomplete combustion of natural gas. 
It is more intensely black than lampblack and used as 
a self color it is a close rival to the bone blacks for 
its jet black tone. As a tint producer it is very poor — 
the tints being rusty with none of the clearness of lamp- 
black. It is used to improve the tone of that pigment 
in sign writer's black and since the grinders have dis- 
covered a Wciy of grinding it so that it will not liver 
with linseed oil, it is highly prized for solid black paint- 
ing of all kinds. It is also substituted for drop black 
in the cheaper colors ground in japan as it will bear 
adulterating lo to i and still be as strong as ivory 
black. 

d. Ivory, drop and coach blacks are all one and 



132 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

the same article under different labels it is true hut — 
the same. They are bone blacks which vary greatly in 
quality according as to the kind of bones, hard or 
soft, used in calcination and also in the carefulness in 
conducting of the process. All are useful in oil, japan or 
water colors. It is used in all kinds of painting, but 
the carriage trade consumes the most of it. 

c. Bninszvick black is the charcoal produced by the 
combustion of twigs of trees and vines of various 
growths. It is very transparent and useful only in 
water colors. 

/. Black lead or plumbago is a natural carbon pro- 
duced by nature and it is mined in many parts of the 
world. As a pigment it is permanent and but for its 
indifferent tone, would be used more extensively than 
it is. It is chiefly used in oil for the painting of roofs, 
iron structures and out door painting. 

This ends the list of useful pigments. 

QUESTIONS ON COLORS. 

6i. What is said regarding colors in general? 

62. In how many main classes can pigments be 
divided? 

63. How are pigments grouped for convenience? 
How many groups of colors ? 
What is said concerning their characters? 
^Vhat is said of the whites generally? 
Give their derivation? 
What is said generally of white lead? 



64. 


a. 




b. 


65. 


a. 




b. 


66. 


a. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 133 

b. What are its peculiarities? 

c. What is the "Dutch process" or corrosion? 

d. What is the "stack" system of corrosion? 

e. What is the "cyHnder" system of corrosion? 
/. Does one system make a better white lead 

than the other? 

67. What is "sublimed lead" ? 

68. Are any of the other salts of lead that are 
white useful as paints? 

69. a. What is said of zinc white and its pecu- 

liarities ? 
b. How many processes are used for making zinc 
white ? 

c. Describe the French process? 

d. Describe the American process ? 

e. Are French zinc whites made in France 

only ? 

70. a. How are the earth whites divided ? 

b. What are the pigments with a cretaceous 

base? 

c. What are the pigments with an aluminous 

base? 

d. \\'hat are the silicious whites ? 

71. a. What is barytes? 
b. What are its uses? 

y2. What is said of the reds generally? 
y^. a. What is said of red oxide of iron ? 

b. What is said of Venetian red, Pompeian 
red, Turkish red, etc. ? 



134 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

c. What is said regarding the Indian reds? 

d. What are Tuscan reds? 

74. What is red lead and what are its uses ? 

75. a. What is orange mineral and what are its 

uses? 
b. What is American vermillion? 

76. a. What is English or quicksilver vermillion? 
b. Where is it mostly used? 

yy. a. What are imitation or Vermillion reds? 
b. What are their uses? 

78. What are lakes and what are their uses? 

79. a. What is said regarding the ochres ? 

b. What are chrome yellows ? 

c. What are their uses? 

80. What other yellows are they ? 

81. a. What is said of the blues in general? 

b. What is Prussian blue and what are its 

uses? 

c. What are ultramarine blues and what are 

their uses? 

d. How is cobalt blue made ? 

e. What is ceruleum and how is it imitated? 
/. What is said of indigo blue ? 

82. a. What is said of greens in general? 

b. What are chrome greens ? 

c. What about cobalt or zinc greens? 

d. What is said of viridian? 

r. What of Paris or Emerald green? 

83. a. What is said generally of the browns? 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 135 

b. What about raw and burnt umbers? 

c. What about raw and burnt sienna ? 

d. What is Vandyke brown? 

84. a. What is said of the blacks generally ? 

b. What is lampblack and what are its uses? 

c. Where does gas black differ from lamp- 

black? 

d. What is Brunswick black? 

e. What is black lead or plumbago ? 

COLOR HARMONY. 

85. Exterior and even more so interior painting no 
matter how well it may have been done nor how well 
planned, the decorations will have that undefinable 
"gingerbread" look to it as the painters would call it, 
if the coloring lacks in harmony, and even if well done 
and harmonious, if the draperies, furniture and car- 
pets are not in harmony with the painting, that will 
suffer in consequence of the latter inharmonious 
neighborhood. 

It is said that poets are born but not made; this to 
a certain extent can be said of a good colorist. It is a 
lamentable fact that 10% of men are at least partially 
color blind and incapable of judging the effects of true 
harmony. Some are totally color blind and can only 
recognize shades of black and white — the latter case 
is much more rare but railroad companies are forced 
to reject a large per cent of applicants for positions 
where the quick recognition of certain colors is a "sine 
qua non." 



136 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

But while poets are not made, persons who so de- 
sire may educate themselves into certainly not becom- 
ing good colorists but into a knowledge of the laws 
governing coloring and when they understand them 
fairly well they will be able to design color schemes 
which will not be an outrage upon the vision of persons 
of taste who are naturally able to recognize harmonious 
coloring. 

86. The subject of color harmony is too deep a 
topic to elucidate in even a desultory manner in the 
small space which can be devoted to it in a manual 
which is to treat of the whole subject-matter of paint 
and painting. All that can be done is to point the 
reader the way to a deeper study of harmony in books 
devoted to the subject of which many have appeared 
recently. 

To understand how to harmonize colors one must 
first of all become acquainted with a knowledge of 
what colors are. These are the result of decomposition 
of light which is white and which is the result of the 
perfect union of all colors. The rainbow with its beau- 
tiful coloring does on a large scale what a glass prism 
breaking the sun's rays does on a smaller scale; it 
decomposes the rays into the various colors of the 
spectrum. 

This decomposition of light shows in reality to the 
naked eye but three groups of three colors each, the 
last three but faintly, however, while the first three 
alone cannot be divided and therefore are called the 
primary colors; they are : Red, yellow and blue. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 137 

87. Secondary colors, also three in number, are 
formed by the mixture of any two of the primaries, 
thus: Red and yellow gives orange^ red and blue 
gives purple and yellow and blue gives green. So 
orange, purple and green are the secondary colors. 

88. A third trio of colors is produced by the mix- 
ture of any two of the secondaries thus : Orange and 
green gives citrine; green and purple gives olive and 
orange and purple gives russet. So citrine, olive 
and russet constitute the three tertiary colors. 

89. The further combination of the tertiaries pro- 
duce an infinity of neutral grays with an addition of 
white or black. 

It must be born in mind that to produce a perfect 
harmony that the primaries or their equivalents in 
secondary or tertiary colors ought to be present to pro- 
duce a perfect harmony in about the same proportion 
as they exist in the spectrum and in which they unite 
to produce perfect light or white. 

90. But other harmonies can be produced by graded 
shades of the same color. Such an harmony is always 
pleasing to the eye and are always in good taste, so 
that a person can hardly err in giving satisfactory re- 
sults if he treats his decorative scheme in this way. 
This is called harmony by analogy. 

91. Harmony by contrast is much more difficult to 
master, as it is not only the coloring used in the decora- 
tion that must be taken into consideration but that of 
the furniture and draperies. Besides there are a great 



138 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

many things which must be well understood which en- 
hance or detract from the effects to be had from the 
use of any color. 

A good general rule to follow, is: that the comple- 
mentary colors (as are called the contrasting opposites) 
should be used in about the same proportion as the 
three primary colors themselves stand in the forma- 
tion of pure white. The primary colors stand in the 
proportion of three parts red, five parts yellow and 
eight parts blue in the make up of white light; then 
if the leading color used in the decoration is blue, it 
follows that red and yellow or the product of their 
combination, orange is the complementary color of blue 
and either that or the color value of these in others 
either secondary or tertiaries must be used in about 
the proportion needed of the primaries in making them 
would have stood to make white light. If yellow is the 
main color ground, blue and red or their tertiary equiv- 
alents or secondary, which is purple, must be the comple- 
mentary color to use. If the main color be red then 
green, which is the result of the union of blue and 
yellow, is the contrasting color of red. 

It does not follow however that a pleasing contrast 
will follow even by a proper use of opposites, unless 
these are of the right tones and shades and as these de- 
pend upon a number of qualifying circumstances which 
will have great influence in the making of ?. perfect 
blend, the laws of color relation to each other and of 
the effect of neutrals and of black and white must be 
"well understood. 



Modern Painter^s Cyclopedia 139 

92. The secondary and tertiary colors are simply 
combinations of the primaries and their source must 
be carefully noted, so that the equivalent of the oppo- 
sites may be furnished as they are necessary to form 
a good harmony by contrast. 

93. The rules given are general and must be very 
incomplete even then as so much must be taken in con- 
sideration as influencing the results in the use of color 
that the reader must be referred to some good treatise 
on color harmony treating the subject-matter fully. 
Then only can one understand why it is that after 
having chosen proper complementary colors, that the 
contrast seems dull or out of harmony. The knowledge 
of the effect neutral tones have in heightening or de- 
pressing colors or why certain tones should be used 
instead of others of the same color will then be un- 
derstood and even a partially color blind decorator will 
not commit any unpardonable sins — in harmonizing 
colors. 



85 
86 

87 
88 

89 

90 

91 



QUESTIONS ON COLOR HARMONY. 

What is said of color harm.ony? 
What are the primary colors? 
What are the secondary colors? 
What are the tertiary colors ? 
What are further combinations called? 
What is harmony by analogy? 
What is harmony by contrast ? 



140 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

92. What is the harmony of contrast of the second- 
ary and tertiaries? 

93. What is further said regarding harmony? 

COLOR MIXING. 

94. The mixing of tints requires some care and 
attention but is not as difficult to understand as many 
suppose it to be. If the rules given below are strictly 
followed, even a novice will come very near to the 
matching of sample tints — at least of such as are mostly 
used and with the tones of which he is familiar. 

There is a wide difference between mixing tints in 
oil or in water colors. In the former a person can 
see for himself just what the mixture is all through 
the stages of the mixing but in water colors the tints 
show so much darker than they will be when dry ^hat 
somewhat different rules must be adopted to mix 
the two. 

RULES FOR MIXING COLORS IN OIL. 

95. a. The base color is always the most impor- 
tant one. It may be any color and here is where some 
good judgment is at times required to determine what 
that is, when one has to choose it for himself in trying 
to match certain samples. Usually it is a white if the 
tint is at all light in tone. If it be a dark one, the 
mixer should be sufficiently well acquainted with colors 
to judge at a glance which must be used as having 
the prevailing importance in the make up of the tint 
and that is the base. 



Modern Painter's 'Cyclopedia 141 

b. This base should be well broken up in linseed 
oil but not nearly as thin as it should be for application 
with a brush. If it be white lead, the most usual base 
for all light tints, it is better to have it well broken up 
the day before as then all small lumps will be dis- 
solved and when it has been well stirred up, it will be 
uniform throughout — a very important requisite. 

c. The tinting pigments or colors which it will be 
necessary to add to the base for producing the tint 
should be pretty well thinned with linseed oil and tur- 
pentine half and half. It is of great importance that 
no lumps or specks remain undissolved in these and 
they should be thinned somewhat more than stated for 
that of the lead base. If necessary they should be 
strained through a fine meshed paint strainer. 

d. The pigment entering in the largest quantity in 
the make up of a tint aside of the base should now be 
mixed with it — not by pouring it in all at once and 
thus overshooting the mark, but very gradually and 
should be well stirred up to insure uniform incorpora- 
tion. It should not be added to the full extent needed 
for the tint, but just short of it. Proceed next to add 
in the other colors needed in the same manner as stated 
above. When all the pigments required have been well 
stirred up, if the mark has not been overshot, the re- 
sulting tint will be very near to the color w"anted and 
by a further addition of this or that one, the tint will 
be brought up to just where it is wanted. If too much 
coloring pigment has been put in however it is easy to 



142 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

understand that it cannot be taken out. Then the 
only remedy is to add more. base to counteract the too 
great quantity of color used and also of the rest of the 
tinting colors and this usually means loss of material 
where too much has been mixed. 

e. A list of principal tints is given further on. 
Many are so very closely related that but some who 
desire to make them, might be misled, they might as 
well have been left out. Another word — what one man 
understands as an apple green may be very different 
from what another's idea of what an apple green ought 
to be and so on all through the list. For this and other 
reasons the quantity of each is not given. The other 
reasons are that some colors of the same name bought 
of various manufacturers may be twice, thrice and 
even four or ten times stronger in coloring than others 
and a tint would be utterly ruined if quantities were 
given. The colors are named according to the im- 
portance they occupy in making the tints. The more 
important being named after the base and the least — 
last. 

96, Tints in water colors require about the same 
coloring pigments to produce any given tint as in oil 
and the same advice about not overdoing the addition 
of the pigments to the base is even more needed. The 
base for tints is usually whiting or some other earth 
white which has been properly thinned with glue water. 
But after colors also thinned with glue water have been 
added, as the tint appears much darker than it really 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 14S 

is, it will be necessary to "try" it. Dip a small piece 
of paper in it and place it in the sun or upon a stove 
and dry it. As soon as dry the true tone of the color 
will show up and any colors lacking can be added — 
gradually, well stirred up and tried by heat again, 
being always careful to have it just a trifle under than 
above the mark. This trying is tedious, it is true, 
but much less so than having to throw away the whole 
batch and commence the mixing all over again — and 
less expensive too. 

LIST OF TINTS. 

97. Acacia. Lampblack for base, colored with 
Indian red and tinged with Prussian blue. 

Acorn brown. See Chocolate as it is nearly the 
same but lightened up with white lead. 

Alderncy brown. Lampblack, orange chrome yel- 
low, French ochre, white lead. 

Alabaster. White lead for base, add enough me- 
dium chrome yellow to very slightly tinge it. 

Amaranth. Tuscan red and vermillion for base, add 
enough ultramarine blue to shade wanted. 

Anemone. Vermillion red for base, add Prussian 
blue to suit shade wanted and a trifle of black and white 
lead or zinc which is better. 

Antique bronze. Orange chrome yellow for base, 
add ivory black. Lampblack can be used but shade 
will not be so bright. 

Antwerp blue. Ultramarine blue for base, add 



144 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

chrome green to shade wanted, Hghten up with zinc 
white. 

Apple green. White lead for base, add light chrome 
green and orange chrome yellow. 

Apricot. Medium chrome yellow for base; Vene- 
tian red and carmine lake. If a light shade is wanted 
lighten it up with zinc white. 

Armenian red. Bright Venetian red for base, light- 
ened up with French ochre. 

Asiatic bronze. Raw umber for base; medium 
chrome yellow to which add sufficient white lead for 
shade wanted. 

Ash gray. White lead for base; tinge with lamp- 
black ; add a bit of French ochre. 

Autumn leaf. White lead for base; to which add 
French ochre, orange chrome yellow, a trifle Venetian 
red to tinge it to tone of red desired. 

Azure blue. White lead for base, but zinc white is 
better; add Prussian blue to shade of it desired. 

Bay. Lampblack for base; add Venetian red and 
orange chrome yellow. 

Begonia, Vermillion red of a good scarlet shade for 
base ; tinge with Prussian blue and lampblack. 

Bismark brown. Burnt sienna for base; add burnt 
umber and orange chrome yellow ; lighten slightly with 
white lead to suit. 

Black slate. Lampblack for base; Prussian blue; 
slightly lighten it up with white lead. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 143 

Bordeaux blue. Lampblack for base; Prussian blue, 
orange chrome yellow. 

Bottle green. Lampblack and Prussian blue for base ; 
lemon chrome yellow; to obtain this color at its best 
glaze it over with a yellow lake. 

Brass. White lead for base; add medium chrome 
yellow and French ochre to shade of it wanted. 

Bronze blue. Lampblack for base ; tinge with Prus- 
sian blue and slightly lighten with white lead. 

Bronze green. Extra dark chrome green for base; 
add lampblack. For a richer tone of it : medium chrom.e 
gieen for base, add ivory black and a trifle of raw 
umber. 

Bronze red. Vermillion red for base; add orange 
chrome yellow and a trifle of lampblack. 

Bronze yellow. Medium chrome yellow for base; 
raw umber, lighten up to suit with white lead. 

Brick color. Yellow ochre for base; add Venetian 
red to suit ; for very light shades add white lead in very 
small quantity. 

Brozvn stone. Tuscan red for base; add orange 
chrome yellow; lighten up to suit with white lead, 
Some shades of it require a bit of ivory black. 

Brozvns and Brown drabs — all shades. Venetian red 
for base; add French ochre and lampblack in various 
proportion according to shades of brown wanted. For 
the brown drabs add white lead to reduce the above 
brown tints. 



146 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

• Buttercup. White lead for base ; add lemon chrome 
yellow to suit shade wanted. 

Cafe au lait. Burnt umber for base ; add white lead, 
French ochre and Venetian red. 

Cambridge red. Vermillion for base ; add Prussian 
blue to suit. 

Canary. Use chrome yellow of that name or lemon 
yellow for base, lightened up with zinc white. 

Carnation. English vermillion for base; add good 
madder lake or carmine. If wanted very light, add 
zinc white. 

Celestial blue. Prussian blue for base ; chrome green 
and zinc white. 

Cerulean blue. Zinc white for base ; add ultramarine 
blue of good tone to suit. 

Chamois. White lead for base; add French ochre, 
medium chrome yellow to suit, redden it with a little 
burnt sienna. 

Chamoline. White lead for base; add raw sienna, 
lemon chrome yellow to suit. 

Chartreuse. Medium chrome yellow for base; add 
some medium chrome green. 

Chestnut. Venetian red for base; add medium 
chrome yellow, French ochre and lampblack to suit. 

Chocolate. Burnt umber for base; add rich crimson 
vermillion red or lake. Another which is cheaper but 
not so rich : French ochre for base ; add lampblack 
^r>4 Venetian red to suit. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 147 

Cinnamon. White lead for base; add burnt sienna, 
French ochre, medium chrome yellow. - .^^ 

Crimson. Deep English vermillion or any of the 
crimson shades of vermillion reds. If desired very rich, 
add some of the crimson lakes or glaze with them. 

Claret. Madder lake and ultramarine blue for base, 
to which add English vermillion and ivory black. 

Clay bank. French ochre for base ; add orange chrome 
yellow, lighten up with white lead to shade desired. 

Clay drab. White lead for base; medium chrome 
yellow, raw and burnt umber. 

Cobalt blue. This is a solid blue. Good ultrama- 
rine blue ; lighten up to suit with zinc white. 

Cocoamit brown. Burnt umber for base; lightened 
up with white lead. 

Colonial yellow. White lead for base; add medium 
chrome yellow, tinge with a trifle of orange chrome 
yellow. 

Copper. Medium chrome yellow ; tinged with burnt 
sienna. 

Coral pink. Vermillion for base ; white lead, medium 
chrome yellow. 

Cotrine. White lead for base; add orange chrome 
yellow and lampblack. 

Cream color and all the buffs. White lead for base ; 
add some good French or Oxford ochre to make the 
shade of them wanted. More or less of the ochre added 
to the base will make an affinity of shades of that 
order. 



148 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

Dove color. White lead for base; add ultramarine 
blue, Indian red and lampblack. 

Dregs of wine. Dark Tuscan red for base ; add white 
lead and a trifle of zinc white. 

Ecru. White lead for base ; add French ochre, burnt 
sienna, lampblack. The tint has a wide range of tones. 

Electric blue. Ultramarine blue for base; add white 
lead and raw sienna. 

Emerald. Paris green as it is, or better an imita- 
tion of it, in very light chrome green. 

Egyptian green. White lead for base ; add raw um- 
ber, lemon chrome yellow, Prussian blue to suit. 

Fawn. White lead for base; add medium chrome 
yellow, Venetian red, burnt umber. 

Flesh color. White lead for base; add medium 
chrome yellow, French ochre and Venetian red. 

Fog blue. Burnt sienna for base ; add Prussian blue, 
then lighten up with white lead to suit. 

French blue. Ultramarine blue for base ; lighten up 
with zinc white to shade wanted and tinge it slightly 
with light chrome green. 

French gray. White lead for base; add ivory black 
with a faint tinge of ultramarine blue and madder lake 
or carmine. 

French red. Indian red for base; add English pale 
Vermillion to brighten it, then glaze with madder red or 
carmine. 

Gazelle. French ochre for base; add Tuscan red, 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 149 

Venetian red, lampblack, lighten up to suit with white 
lead. 

Geranium. Vermillion red for base ; add Indian red 
and a trifle of ivory black. 

Gobelin blue. Ivory black for base ; add white lead, 
Prussian blue and a trifle of medium chrome green. 

Gold. White lead for base ; add medium chrome yel- 
low, some good bright French ochre and a very little 
English Vermillion or vermillion red of good tone.' 

Golden brown. French ochre for base; add orange 
chrome yellow, lampblack . Lighten up with white lead 
to suit. 

Grass green. Extra light chrome green just as it 
comes from the can or lighten up the light chrome green 
with canary chrome yellow. 

Gray green. White lead for base; add ultramarine 
blue, lemon chrome yellow, lampblack. 

Granite blue. White lead for base ; lampblack, Prus- 
sian blue. 

Green stone. White lead for base; add medium 
chrome green, raw umber, and French ochre. 

Gray stone. White lead for base; add lampblack, 
Prussian blue, Venetian red. 

Gray drabs — all shades of them. White lead for 
base ; add lamp or drop black with a little burnt umber 
in various proportions according to the depth and shade 
of drab wanted. 

Grays, all shades. White lead for base ; lampblack in 
various proportions to suit shade wanted. 



150 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

Hay color. White lead for base ; add orange chrome 
yellow, light chrome green, Indian red. 

Heliotrope. Zinc white for base; add bright Ven- 
etian red and ultramarine blue. 

Indian pink. White lead for base; add Indian red. 

Indian brown. Indian red for base; add lampblack, 
French ochre. 

Iron gray. Lampblack for base ; add white lead and 
a trifle of orange chrome yellow. 

Ivy green. French ochre for base; add lampblack, 
Prussian blue. 

Jasper. Lampblack for base; add medium chrome 
yellow, light Indian red. 

Jonquil. White lead for base; add medium chrome 
yellow to which should be added a tinge of red with 
English pale vermillion. 

Lavender. White lead for base; add ivory black, 
ultramarine blue, tinge with carmine or madder lake. 

Leaf buds. White lead for base ; add orange chrome 
yellow, light chrome green. 

Lead color. See Grays. 

Leather. French ochre for base; add burnt umber. 
If a warm tone is wanted add Venetian red. 

Lemon. Use the chrome yellow of that name. 

Lilac. White lead for base ; add dark Indian red to 
suit. 

London smoke. Yellow ochre for base; add ultra- 
marine blue, lampblack, lighten up to suit with white 
lead. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 151 

Magenta. Vermillion for base; add carmine or 
madder lake with a tinge of ultramarine blue. 

Manila or deck paint. White lead for base; add 
French ochre, medium chrome yellow. 

Marigold. Medium chrome yellow for base; add 
white lead, orange chrome yellow. 

Maroon. Carmine or madder lake for base; add 
ivory black and a bit of orange chrome yellow. A 
cheaper way : Tuscan red for base ; add orange chrome 
yellow and some ivory black. 

Mastic. White lead base; add French ochre, Ven- 
etian red and a trifle of lampblack. 

Mexican red. Bright Venetian red for base; add 
red lead. 

Mignonette. Medium chrorne green for base; add 
Prussian blue, medium chrome yellow, lampblack. 

Mascot. Lampblack for base; add Prussian blue to 
suit. 

Mauve. Ultramarine blue for base ; add zinc white, 
tint with madder lake. 

Methyl blue. Ultramarine for base; add medium 
chrome green and a tinge of red. 

Moorish red. Vermillion red for base; add madder 
lake. 

Mouse color. White lead for base; add lampblack, 
a tinge of Venetian red and burnt umber. 

Moss rose. Lemon chrome yellow for base; add 
medium chrome green; lighten up with white lead to 
suit. 



152 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

Mountain blue. White lead for base; add madder 
lake, ultramarine blue. 

Navy blue. Ultramarine blue for base; add ivory 
black. 

Neutral blue. Prussian blue for base ; add raw um- 
ber and lighten up with white lead to suit. 

Nile blue. White lead for base; add Prussian blue 
with a trifle of medium chrome green. 

Normandy blue. Medium chrome green; ultrama- 
rine blue, a trifle of white lead. 

Nut brozvn. Lampblack for base ; add Venetian red, 
medium chrome yellow, French ochre. 

Oak color. Light and dark shades of it. White lead 
for base; add French ochre and a small quantity of 
Venetian red; vary quantities to suit light or dark 
shades. 

Old gold. White lead for base ; add medium chrome 
yellow, French ochre and a little burnt umber. 

Olive. Lemon chrome yellow for base; add about 
equal parts of Prussian blue and lampblack. Some 
shades of olive can be made by substituting French 
ochre for lemon chrome yellow, when, of course, the 
tone will not be so bright. A trifle of lemon chrome 
added to the ochre will improve it and still make an- 
other variety of it. . :^-:\ i^l■,r.. i.^r ri£-:f>iio'' 

Olive brown. Raw umber for base; add lemon 
chrome yellow. Vary the quantity to suit depth of tone 
wanted. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 153 

Opal gray. White lead for base ; add burnt sienna, 
ultramarine blue. 

Oriental blue. White lead for base; add Prussian 
blue, lemon chrome yellow. 

Oriental green. Raw umber for base; add lemon 
chrome yellow to suit. 

Orange, Orange chrome yellow as it comes from 
the can. 

Orange brown. Orange chrome yellow for base ; add 
raw sienna, a trifle of burnt umber. 

Peach blossom. White lead for base; add pale 
Indian red to suit. A tinge of madder lake will enrich 
it. 

Pearl. White lead for base; add ivory black and a 
trifle of ultramarine blue and carmine lake. This is 
a very light shade just off the white. It must not be 
overdone. 

Pea green. White lead for base; add medium 
chrome green to suit. 

Peacock blue. Ultramarine blue for base : add extra 
light chrome green and zinc white to suit. 

Persian orange. Orange chrome yellow for base; 
add French ochre, white lead. 

Pistache. Ivory black for base; add French ochre, 
medium chrome green. 

Pink. Zinc white for base ; add madder lake or car- 
mine or the crimson shades of vermillion. 

Pompeian red. Vermillion red base; add orange 
chrome yellow, a bit of ivory black. 



154 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

Pompeian blue. White lead tfese; add ultramarine 
blue, Vermillion red, French ochre. 

Plum color. White leilad for base; add Indian red, 
ultramarine blue. 

Portland stone. French ochre for base; add raw 
umber ; lighten up to suit with white lead. 

Primrose. White lead for base ; add lemon or med- 
ium yellow chrome, according to the shade wanted. 

Purple. White lead for base; add dark Indian red 
and a trifle of light Indian red to suit. 

Purple brown. Dark Indian red for base ; add ultra- 
marine blue, a trifle of lampblack and white lead to 
lighten up to suit. 

Quaker green. White lead for base; add French 
ochre, lampblack and burnt sienna. 

Roan. Lampblack for base ; add Venetian red, Prus- 
sian blue ; lighten it up to suit with white lead. 

Robin's egg blue. White lead for base ; add ultrama- 
rine until the shade is a deep blue, then add some pale 
chrome green to suit tone desired of it. 

Russet. White lead for base; add orange chrome 
yelloAV, a trifle of lampblack and Prussian blue. 

Russian gray. White lead for base; add ultrama- 
rine blue, pale Indian red and lampblack. 

Sage green. White lead for base; add medium 
chrome green until the tint is nearly but not quite a pea 
green, then add lampblack to tinge it the sage tint. 

Salmon. White lead for base; add French ochre, 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 155 

burnt sienna, with a trifle of English vermilHon or a 
good vermilHon red. 

Sapphire blue. Zinc white for base; add ultramarine 
blue. 

Sap green. White lead for base ; add medium chrome 
yellow, lampblack. 

Sea green. White lead base ; add Prussian blue, raw 
sienna. 

Seal brown. Burnt umber for base ; add good French 
ochre and a trifle of white lead. 

Scarlet. Pale English vermilHon or any of the scar- 
let toned vermilHon reds. 

Shrimp pink. White lead base; add Venetian red, 
burnt sienna and a trifle of vermilHon. 

Sky blue. White lead for base ; add Prussian blue to 
suit. 

Slate. White lead for base; add raw umber, ultra- 
marine blue, lampblack. 

Spruce yellozv. French ochre for base; add Ven- 
etian red ; lighten up with white lead to suit. 

Snuff color. French ochre for base; add burnt um- 
ber and a bit of Venetian red. 

Strazv color. Medium chrome yellow for base ; add 
French ochre; a bit of Venetian red; Hghten up with 
white lead. 

Stone color and yellozv drabs. White lead for base ; 
add French ochre ; tinge up with medium chrome yellow 
and burnt umber. By varying quantities all shades of 
yellow drab can be made. 



156 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

Tan. White lead for base; add burnt sienna and a 
trifle of lampblack. 

Tally-Ho. White lead for base; add French ochre, 
Venetian red, dark chrome green with a bit of ivory 
black. 

Terra-cotta. French ochre for base; add Venetian 
red and white lead. Some shades of it require the 
addition of Indian red. If some rich shades are wanted 
use orange chrome yellow in place of French ochre; 
add Venetian red and a trifle of burnt umber to suit. 

Turquoise blue. White lead for base, or better zinc 
white and cobalt blue; Paris green or pale chrome 
green. 

Vienna brown. Burnt umber for base; add Ven- 
etian red, French ochre, and lighten with white lead to 
suit. 

Violet. White lead for base ; add pale Indian red, a 
trifle of dark Indian red. 

Willow green. White lead for base; add sufficient 
medium chrome yellow to make a pretty deep shade; 
then add a small quantity of raw umber and ivory black. 

Wine color. English vermillion or scarlet toned 
Vermillion red for base; add madder lake or carmine, 
ultramarine blue, lampblack. 

Another way : Dark Tuscan red of good quality to 
which add a trifle of ivory black. 

Water green. White lead for base ; add raw sienna, 
dark chrome green. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 157 

Yellozv bronze. Lemon or medium chrome yellow 
tor base ; add French ochre and a trifle of burnt umber. 

QUESTIONS ON COLOR MIXING. 

94. What is said about color mixing in general ? 

95. a. What is a base for a tint ? 

b. How must the base be prepared? 

c. How are the tinting colors prepared ? 

d. How must one proceed to mix the tinting 

colors with the base ? 

e. What advice is given in this section? 

96. How are tints in water colors made? 

97. Pupils should familiarize themselves with the 
tints given and refer to them when they want to know 
how to make them. 

COLOR TESTING. 

98. Under the heading of "Colors," paragraph yib, 
the reader will have noticed probably what has been 
said concerning the chief role played by barytes in the 
paint world. He may have noticed also what is said in 
paragraphs 5 to 7 inclusive, under the heading of 
"Adulterations in relation to the scale test as indicating 
the relative strength of coloring matter contained in 
pigments." As a fairly full explanation of the test is 
there given, it may be well to read that portion over 
again as it is not necessary to repeat it here, and it 
plays a very important part in testing the v^lue of 
many pigments, 



158 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

There is no better test for nearly all manufactured 
:oIors having a recognized chemical formula and be- 
sides it nearly always indicates (indirectly) the quality 
of tone in the tints made while making the test ; but 
after all this test does not show everything connected 
with the testing of colors nor is it applicable to a large 
number of valuable pigments, therefore the subject mat- 
ter of this heading will be considered from the several 
points which have a bearing upon enhancing or depreci- 
ating the value of pigments. 

The following are points which are recognized uni- 
versally as having something to do in determining 
values; some for one class of pigments, others for an- 
other class and some are applicable to all : 

1. Purity of material. 

2. Purity of tone, brilliancy, richness. 

3. Fineness of grinding and preparation. 

4. Spreading capacity. 

5. Its body; applying only to opaque or semi- 
opaque pigments. 

6. Its staining power or tinting strength with white 
lead. 

7. The quality of purity of their tones with whites. 

8. If a paste color the consistency of the paste. 

PURITY OF PIGMENTS. 

99. All chemically prepared pigments which have a 
well known formula which is recognized among color 
men as such, have that for a standard of purity. White 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 159 

lead, zinc white, Prussian blue, the chrome yellows, 
greens, etc., belong to this class. The word pure here 
means only this : that they contain no adulteration, but 
it does not take into consideration, the quality of tone, 
fineness of grinding, brilliancy, etc., each of which is 
an important factor in determining the relative value of 
pigments. The scale test is very valuable in determin- 
ing the strength of this class of pigments and usually 
this is the most important point in the judging of val- 
ues. A color may be very pure and still be very poor, 
but the above statement applies with more force to the 
earth or natural pigments than to those that are chem- 
ically prepared. Yet it is sometimes necessary to have 
recourse to all the points named in the preceeding para- 
graph to fully determine the true value of a pigment. 

PURITY OF TONE OF PIGMENTS. 

lOO. This test is applicable to all classes of pig- 
ments and the chemically prepared colors should have 
it applied as well as the others for a Prussian blue or a 
chrome yellow may have such a poor tone as to be val- 
ueless and still be chemically pure and for the natural 
or earth pigments this test is of the greatest importance 
and leads all others. In paragraphs 3 to 8, good advice 
is given in relation to chosing some good standard col- 
ors to judge others by. The reader will do well to 
keep a supply of all such as he is likely to need in testing 
other colors by and comparing their tones. Brilliancy 
is as desirable as purity of tone and usually the two are 



160 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

inseparable for it is inconceivable of a pigment of a 
good pure tone that it has not brilliancy also, so that 
there is no need of a separate test for it. Richness is 
also an inherent quality belonging to purity of tone and 
it must be inferred as it cannot be separated from it. 

FINENESS OF GRINDING. 

There are several methods of determining the fine- 
ness of grinding of pigments. The fineness of grinding 
of any color but those of crystallic formation is very 
important as it gives them more spreading power, 
makes them more absorbent of linseed oil, which in out- 
side painting means more durability and as finely 
ground pigments can be spread more smoothly, it also 
means additional beauty. For the earth colors such as 
the siennas, the umbers, Vandyke brown, etc., especially 
if used in their self tones, as they are in graining or in 
glazing — fineness of grinding is of much importance 
as it will prevent speckiness, a fault for which the repu- 
tation of a carriage painter or grainer using them may 
suffer much on account of the poor quality of work 
turned out with such. The following methods may be 
used in judging the fineness of grinding: 

The simplest and easiest of all is to place a little bit 
of the pigment upon a piece of clean glass and to re- 
duce it with oil until very thin, then to spread it out 
upon the glass very thinly, then looking through the 
glass holding it so the light will go through it, it will 
show any speck or imperfect grinding. Another way 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 161 

is to thin out the pigment with turpentine and paint it 
out thinly upon the glass and doing the same with some 
of the standard which is known to be very finely ground 
and which is thinned with the same quantity of thinner, 
and which should be painted alongside of the color be- 
ing tested. When dry the painting will clearly indicate 
the relative fineness of the two samples. 

The following method is probably as good as any or 
better rather than any, but it requires a little more time 
to make the test: Weigh out equal parts each of the 
colors being tested, after having first taken the precau- 
tion to place each upon a piece of blotting paper to re- 
move the oil as one might have more than the other, 
then after weighing place each sample in a graduated 
test tube, putting in each tube the same quantity of tur- 
pentine to thin them, after which shake them up thor- 
oughly. It will be easy to see which precipitates first, 
as the heaviest will go to the bottom first always and 
the finest or lightest will be held in suspension the 
longest. But even this test would become worthless for 
colors which have been adulterated with a very fine 
atomed adulterant or for white lead which contains 
sublimed lead as that is much finer than Dutch process 
lead. In either case, however, if the scale test has been 
used, it will have given away the pigment at fault and 
one can give a pretty good guess as to what the 
adulterant may be. 



162 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

SPREADING POWER OR COVERING POWER. 

1 02. The spreading power or covering power of 
pigments are not controvertible terms and they are not 
identical, as between zinc and white lead for instance, 
and one of great opacity may not have much spreading 
power. But in pigments which are being tested with 
another of the same name and composition to all in- 
tents and purposes, and for comparison it may be 
assumed that the two are identical and that spreading is 
due to the opacity of the pigment, and that they should 
go hand in hand in helping to determine the value of 
the samples tested. It would not be fair nor conclusive 
to apply this test to any of the transparent or even the 
semitransparent pigments, but is applicable only to 
white lead and other opaque pigments. 

THE BODY. 

103. The body of a pigment lays in its opaqueness 
or its capacity to hide from view, the coats of paint 
over which their covering properties are being tested. 
It is nearly related to its spreading so that what was 
said in the preceding paragraph applies to that also. 
A pigment having a better body than that of another 
of the same name, can be spread further, to cover as 
well as one lacking in body, each hiding the surface 
over which they are applied as well in each case. For 
instance if to cover over a certain number of square feet 
of surface painted black requires one pound of white 
lead to do as well as one and a half pound of white 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 163 

lead of another sample did, then the first is worth 50% 
the most and has 50% more body and the spread helps 
to determine its body. 

TINTING OR STAINING STRENGTH. 

104. This is determined by the "scale test" which 
has been explained under the heading "Adulteration" 
and the reader is referred to paragraphs 5 to 7. This 
test is an infallible one in detecting the lack of color- 
ing matter in any pigment. 

THE PERMANENCY OF PIGMENTS. 

105. This is a very important test but it takes a very 
long time to make it. There is nothing else to do but 
to wait for results after having painted over two or 
more pigments being tested for permanency upon a 
board side by side, the board being the same and the 
ground coats being alike, and the exposure the same 
for each. Each pigment has a permanency of its own 
and therefore the term is only a relative one. White 
lead should not be tested by the permanency belonging 
to lampblack for instance, but by that of samples of 
other white lead and time will decide which of two or 
more white leads is the most permanent. Under the 
heading of "Colors" is given their peculiarities and in 
the leading ones ' especially a list of conditions under 
which they should not be applied and which would 
shorten their permanency. 



J 64 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

QUESTIONS TO COLOR TESTING. 

98. What is said generally of color testing ? 

99. What about the purity of pigments ? 

100. What can you say regarding the purity of 
tone? 

loi. How can the fineness of grinding be detected? 
test is an infallible one in detecting the lack of color- 
ering power of pigments and to what class of pigments 
is the test applicable? 

103. What is the body of a pigment? 

104. How do you test for the amount of coloring 
matter contained in pigments? 

105. How is the permanency of pigments tested ? 

ESTIMATING. 

106. There is nothing pertaining to the business of 
painting or decorating which is more puzzling to the 
beginner and if you please, to many veterans than "how 
to proceed in making an estimate upon an architect's 
specifications or even for the repainting of an old build- 
ing where all the work is in full sight, just as it is." It 
requires a minute understanding of everything to be 
done and of the time that will be required to do it, be- 
sides making a liberal allowance for time lost or 
wasted on account of delays occasioned by the thou- 
sand and one causes which the experienced contractor 
alone knows of. 

Some men go to work with paper and pencil, reduce 
every board, molding, etc., into inches and square feet, 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 165 

counting parts requiring more time than plain square 
surfaces 50, 100 or even 200 per cent more than that 
for the extra trouble. Others again will simply average 
up the number of plain, molded and transomed doors 
and their casings; so many windows of various sizes 
and their casings; base boards, wainscoting, etc. For 
the outside they square it up adding a fifth for under- 
side of weather boarding, etc. But it seems to be an 
intuition with some men to know just how much to 
charge for each job by just "looking it over," without 
ever so much as taking the pencil out of the vest pocket. 
Nor will their figures usually vary as much as those of 
the men who toil and sweat over long rows of additions 
made necessary by the carefully itemized account they 
have made of every board in the house. 

How it is possible for people who figure a job so 
closely to vary so much in their estimates is a puzzle for 
the Philadelphia lawyer to solve. The opening up of 
the bids is such a joke that one may look out for any 
kind of a surprise in the figures named for doing the 
painting. The results would indicate that reckless 
guessing was more prevalent than sober judgment in 
naming the figures as these show variations of from 10 
to 150 per cent sometimes. Variations of from 10 to 
20% are to be expected — but the others? 

Common sense and a thorough knowledge of the 
"How to bid" should be the motto of the contractor. 
They generally go hand in hand, but this knowledge is 
gained only by cool, careful comparisons made as to 



166 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

what former jobs of about the same amount of surface 
have cost and in time a man is able to name a price off 
hands for nearly all kinds and sizes of ordinary build- 
ings by making a proper allowance for the safe side. 
But the novice who has no such retrospective experience 
to lean upon and also the men who do not accumulate 
experience from past transactions, need to square up 
everything to be able to bid intelligently. 

The National Master Painters' Association some 
years ago adopted a system of measurement which, 
while it was not to be binding upon its members, was' 
to be used as a guide in the making of estimates, but 
more especially to establish a price for all kinds of 
painting which had to be established by law, where the 
settlement for the painting of a job had to be done 
through litigation, but it did not work. The associ- 
ation had it made up into pamphlet form and placed it 
on sale with its secretary and while it was well ad- 
vertised it took several years before it was sold and 
given away together. No new edition will ever be 
made of it. 

The Pittsburg local association of Master Painters 
recognizing the need of a guide in making estimates 
adopted a price list which is given below. This list is 
a fairer one than that adopted by the national associa- 
tion, but it is not binding upon the members either. 
It serves merely as a guide and members can cut it in 
two if they like. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 167 

THE PITTSBURG PRICE LIST. 
SQUARE MEASURE. 

107. . Plain weatherboarding, close fencing, ledge 
doors, partitions, paling fences, etc., all common colors, 
viz : White, light yellow, slate, pearl, light buff, light 

drab or cream color, per yard for each coat 8c 

Each coat of varnish, per yard loc 

PANEL WORK. 

Flush panel work, panel doors, recesses, etc. 

All the above colors, for each coat, per yard loc 

The same in two colors, per yard 12c 

The same in three colors, per yard 14c 

Striping after other work is finished, lineal meas- 
ure, per foot ic 

For expensive or unused colors, additional, per yard ic 

For each coat of varnish, per yard 12c 

For each coat of shellac, per yard 12c 

BRICK WORK. 

First coat, per yard 1 5c 

Second coat, per yard 12c 

Third coat, per yard loc 

Pencilling, per yard 15c 

Mastic on cement, per yard 20c 

Addition coats on that same as brick. 

INSIDE WALL PAINTING. 

First coat, per yard 12c 



165 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

Second coat, per yard loc 

Third coat, per yard 8c 

STOPPING AND CLEANING, 

Ordinary puttying, charge price of first coat for the 
several kinds of work. Puttying longitudinal joints in 
ceilings, siding, floors, etc., to be charged two to four 
times the price of first coat for the several kinds of 
work at the discretion of the measurer. 

SURFACING^ STAINING AND VARNISHING. 

Each coat of surfacing, per yard loc 

Each coat of stain, per yard 8c 

Each coat of varnish, per yard I2c 

LINEAL MEASURE. 

Pillasters, architraves, frames, jambs, base mold- 
ings, etc. 

Per ft. Varnish 



rth I to 4 inch, each coat, ^c }ic 

rth 4 to 6 inch, each coat ^c ic 

rth 6 to 8 inch, each coat ic i^c 

rth 8 to 10 inch, each coat i^c i^c 

rth 10 to 12 inch, each coat i^c i^c 

rth 12 to 14 inch, each coat i^c 2c 

rth 14 to 16 inch, each coat 2c 2%c 

rth 16 to 18 inch, each coat 2^c 2J/2C 

rth 18 to 20 inch, each coat 2>^c 2^c 

rth 20 to 22 inch, each coat 2^c 3c 

rth 22 to 24 inch, each coat 3c ^%c 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 169 

Larger dimensions taken in square measure. 

Column mantle as above. 

Panel jambs, door casings, etc., to be measured by 
the above rule. 

Plain rosettes — add one foot to the length. 

Carved rosettes — add two feet to the length. • 

Other carved or ornamental work at the discretion 
of the measurer. 

MODE OF MEASURING. 

Begin at wall, press line in all quirks to bead at edge 
of jamb casing for girth. For jambs, take inner sash 
rabbet to corner bead, double the height and measure 
between jambs for length. 

STRING BOARDS,, ETC. 

Plain, each coat, per foot 2c 

Bracketed, each coat, per foot 3c 

Carved, each coat, per foot 4c 

Staff heads, each coat, per foot 5^c 

Edge of shelves, each coat, per foot ^c 

CORNICES AND COLUMNS, PLAIN. 

Girth I to 2 feet, each coat 3c 

Girth 2 to 3 feet, each coat 4c 

Girth 3 to 4 feet, each coat 5c 

Girth 4 to 5 feet, each coat 6c 

Plain caps on columns — add to length two feet. 

Ornamental caps on columns — add to length four 
feet. 



170 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

CORNICES WITH BRACKETS. 

Girth I to 2 feet, each coat „ 4c 

Girth 2 to 3 feet, each coat 6c 

Girth 3 to 4 feet, each coat 8c 

Girth 4 to 5 feet, each coat loc 

Girth 5 to 6 feet, each coat 12c 

Larger dimensions in proportion. 

Dential cornices same price as brackets. 

MODE OF MEASURING. 

For girth begin at the top, press Hne into all quirks 
and over each member at bottom and to the length add 
one-half the medium girth of the brackets multiplied by 
their number. 

PRIMING OR TRACING AND GLAZING SASH. 

Priming or New Old Glazing 

Tracing Glazing & Glass S.S. 

8 to 10x12 to 14 i}ic 5c $0.20 S. S. 

8 to 12x16 or 18 i>4c 8c .35 S. S. 

8 to 14x24 2c IOC .40 S. S. 

8 to 18x24 3c 14c .50 S. S. 

8 to 24x30 5c i8c i.oo D.S. 

8 to 26x36 6c 20c 1 ,30 D. S. 

8 to 30x36 8c 25c 1.65 D.S. 

8 to 36x40 IOC 30c 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 171 

8 to 40x44 I2C 35c 

8 to 40x50 14c 40c 

8 to 40x56 i6c 50c 

8 to 50x60 i8c 60c 

8 to 50x70 20c 75c 

These prices do not apply when called out to glaze 
one or two lights. 

For back puttying add one-quarter and for bedding 
add one-half to above rates. 

In new glazing cost of glass is not included. All 
breakage at the risk of owners, if glass is furnished 
by them. To all bills of glass furnished by the trade, 
20 per cent will be charged additional. 

PLATE GLASS. 

Sizes same as table above at same prices. Sizes 
above up to 90 square feet 5 per cent on net cost de- 
livered; 90 to 108 square feet 8 per cent; 108 square 
feet and upward 10 per cent. 

Removing old glass same as above. The owner to 
pay cost of taking up large glass above first floor. 

Unless otherwise provided for the glazier puts glass 
in at his own risk of breakage, but cutting will be 
at owner's risk. 

SANDING. 

First coat of sand equal to two coats of paint in 
addition to paint coat. 



172 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

Second coat of sand equal to three coats of paint in 
addition to paint coat. 

GRAINING SQUARE MEASURE. 

Plain Oak, per yard $0.40 

Plain Walnut or Ash, per yard 70 

Plain Satinwood or Maple, per yard 70 

Plain Mahogany or Cherry, per yard 70 

Shaded Oak, per yard i.oo 

Pencilled Oak or Ash, per yard i .00 

Pencilled Chestnut or Cherry, per yard i.oo 

Pencilled Walnut, per yard i.oo 

Rosewood, per yard i.oo 

Oak or Walnut root, per yard 1.50 

LINEAL MEASURE. 

Grain- Varnish- 
ing ing 

Girth I to 4 inches, per foot 3c ^c 

Girth 4 to 6 inches, per foot 4c ic 

Girth 6 to 8 inches, per foot 5c i^c 

Girth 8 to 10 inches, per foot 6c i^c 

Girth 10 to 12 inches, per foot 7c i^c 

Girth 12 to 14 inches, per foot 8c 2c 

Girth 14 to 16 inches, per foot 9c 2}ic 

Girth 16 to 18 inches, per foot loc 23^c 

Other members in proportion. 

Graining edges of shelves, per foot, i^^c. 

Graining sashes double the price of plain painting. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 173 

MARBLING SQUARE MEASURE. 

White Marble, per yard $0.75 

Other kinds, per yard i.oo 

Varnishing, each coat, per yard 12 

LINEAL MEASURE. 

All members Marbl- Varnish- 

from ing ing 

I to 8 inch girth, per foot 8c ic 

8 to 10 inch girth, per foot 12c i^c 

10 to 12 inch girth, per foot i6c i^^c 

12 to 14 inch girth, per foot i8c 2c 

14 to 16 inch girth, per foot 20c 2}ic 

Larger members in proportion. 

CLEANING AND CALCIMINING. 

Ceiling and walls, per yard . i6c 

Plain cornices, i to 2 feet girth, per foot 2c 

Plain cornices, 2 to 4 feet girth, per foot 3c 

Add to the above for each color if more than one, 
per foot ic 

QUESTIONS ON ESTIMATING. 

106. What is said in a general way of estimating? 

107. Tables of reference regarding prices of paint- 
ing to be referred to when needed. 



174 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

EXTERIOR PAINTING. 

1 08. The treatment of painting exposed to the 
tender mercy of the elements such as exterior painting 
has to go through naturally implies a good understand- 
ing of what these conditions are and also a good knowl- 
edge of how to adapt the material used in doing it so 
as to best meet them. Therefore it will be best to first 
review what these are and this will enable us to be 
better prepared to devise a suitable remedy, so that 
whilst decay must in time destroy it, at least that time 
may be longer delayed. 

CAUSES OF DECAY. 

109. Nature seems very busily engaged in trying 
to reduce all compound substances into its simpler con- 
stituent elements or in recombining them with others 
for which they each have a greater affinity and this 
causes a constant changing or terminating of one part- 
nership and the forming of others. If the reader will 
remember it was said of red lead and of orange mineral 
— one being the bi-oxide and the other the ter-oxide of 
lead that each being overloaded with oxygen had a 
natural tendency to return to their simpler forms of a 
monoxide or litharge ; also that English or quicksilver 
vermilion had a tendency to return to its more natural 
form of a black sulphuret of mercury. These are but 
samples of what is constantly taking place in nature. 
The constant changes caused by linseed oil or any of 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 175 

the other fixed oils coming in contact with the oxygen 
in the atmosphere will no doubt have been noticed by 
any one who has taken the pains of so doing. Yet 
while all this is in plain sight how few who have really 
thought anything about it or lost a single moment in 
making any inquiries as to the why and how these 
changes occur. The phenomena of oil drying is won- 
derful and full of interest, yet produces but little in- 
terest or inquiry about it from the great army of those 
who daily use it and the why and wherefore never 
bothers them. But there are many who are interested 
and it is due to these, that experimenting has been 
carried on and that some progress has been made in 
the knowledge which the world at large has of it. The 
ignorance regarding the drying of linseed oil is such 
as to hardly be thought possible and like as not half of 
the painters when asked as to the how it occurs will 
likely as not tell you that it evaporates itself dry. Such 
an explanation of it was once given in a trade paper 
by a man whose name usully carries some weight when 
he writes about the technical application of paint which 
he does know — as he is an expert. When such a man 
can give such a reason as that, it is not to be expected 
that the others not nearly as well posted should be so 
ignorant of it. 

The various elements composing the air with which 
exterior painting is in constant companionship are all 
invisible, being subtle gases which while when joined 
together in the proper proportions are endued with 



176 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

life giving properties are deadly to all life when sep- 
arated and alone. 

Oxygen, one of the main constituents of our atmos- 
pheric air, is one of the principal component parts of an 
innumerable number of substances and it combines 
readily with most other elements to form compound 
substances. Its action upon the drying of the fixed 
oils is very beneficial — up to a certain point, but after 
that point has been reached, then it becomes harmful, 
as after that point has been past the further action of 
oxygen upon it causes decay. This action is promoted 
and also retarded by many accessory agents and greatly 
accelerated by the presence of another constituent of our 
atmosphere : 

Hydrogen which causes the decay of exterior paint- 
ing by accelerating the action of oxygen and also by 
that of its own beside. But moisture alone without air 
will not cause decay readily nor will it act even in the 
open air without the aid of heat. We have already 
seen what its action is when present either in the paint 
itself or in the surface over which paint is applied ; the 
same being fully explained in paragraph 13 a to ^, 
which see. 

Sunlight and heat may as well be bracketed together 
as they are usually inseparable. Yet each has its own 
particular function as destructive agents of painting. 
Sunlight causes many pigments to fade away but the 
heat which its rays also produce causes it to act much 
more quickly, so that sunlight is much less destructive 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 177 

to color in the winter than it is in the summer. Light 
and heat and moisture are the accessories which help 
hydrogen accomplish its work of destruction and after 
oxygen are the principal factor which cause paint to 
decay. 

These same agents are also very active in causing 
the destruction of the fibres of the woods and for this 
reason it is mainly — after that of beautifying — that the 
painting of exterior surfaces is used to protect them. 
"How" it does this will have to be understood in 
order to apply the remedy more effectually. 

It would require a larger volume than this devoted 
entirely to the subject to enter minutely into a relation 
of the details which enter into what constitutes the bene- 
ficial action of the elements or their destructiveness of 
painting material and "how" this beneficial and destruc- 
tive agency occurs. As much of it could not be under- 
stood by the reader who is not familiar with chemistry, 
mere generalities will be all that can be indulged in. 

PAINT AS A PROTECTION TO SURFACES. 

III. Not only wood fibres but, metals, stone, brick, 
in fact everything movable or immovable is subject to 
the action of some of the gases which compose atmos- 
pheric air and to others also which are disseminated 
here and there in it. The metal "iron" which is chiefly 
used in large architectural structures, bridges, ships, 
etc., eagerly combines with oxygen to form oxyde of 
iron or rust. Limestone, marbles, and other form of 



178 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

lime are very hungry for sulphurous acid fumes of 
which moisture carries quantities in solution in certain 
localities and which combines with them to quicken 
them on to dissolution. The whole list of stone, in- 
cluding sand or even granite are more or less quickly 
acted upon by some form of the elements or some gases 
carried by the air. 

As the beauty of uncut or cut stone depends upon its 
natural setting and dress it will not be necessary to say 
anything further concerning them as they are seldom 
painted as it destroys their natural beauty and charm. - 
But iron which next to woods is fast becoming the chief 
material used in house construction and which prob- 
ably in the near future will become the principal, needs 
to be well protected in order to prevent as much as pos- 
sible the injurious action of the elements upon it. Hav- 
ing no beauty of its own to plead, it has to depend 
upon its protector in a large degree for any artificial 
beauty which that can impart to it, besides the pro- 
tection that it gives it. 

As the principles upon which paint benefits exposed 
surfaces generally speaking are the same for all kinds 
of surfaces let them be iron, steel, wood, brick, stone 
or cement it will be unnecessary to review them sep- 
arately as they apply sufficiently near to each of them. 

Iron, brick, stone or wood are all porous, some so 
much so that these pores can be detected by the naked 
eye. Under a powerful microscope their surfaces ap- 
pear as a huge sponge. It is through these openings 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 179 

that moisture, that greatest enemy of them all — for it 
is mainly by its aid that other destructive agencies are 
able to do their worst — enters and with it all the others 
too. It stands to reason that in order to be able to 
afford protection to this valuable structural material that 
these pores must be closed up effectually in order to 
keep out moisture and the other destructive elements. 

This is the protection that is given them by the 
use of paint properly mixed and applied. The paint 
itself must be finely ground in order to penetrate with 
its vehicle into the pores of the surfaces over which 
it is applied ; therefore the practice of many to use dry 
pigments, such as ochre, Venetian red, etc., is a perni- 
cious one and must be unequivocally condemned. Many 
painters act upon the theory that anything is good 
enough for priming ; instead of which they should adopt 
the motto that: Nothing is any too good for it nor too 
finely ground. If any unground pigments must be used 
upon a job, let its place be upon the finishing coat but 
never upon the first. It is the very poorest, foolishest 
of economy to use such for the purpose of priming or 
for any other for that matter as dry pigments soaked 
up in oil and unground is unfit for any kind of painting. 
So that while it is said that it is better to use such on 
the finishing coat rather than the first is to be taken in 
the sense that such would be less harmful there than 
in the priming coat, but not as an indorsement of them 
for that or any other use in painting. 

The action of the vehicle is beneficial in two ways, 



180 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

if it be a proper one well fitted for the purpose. It 
binds the particles of the pigment together and holds 
them in its embrace and it penetrates even to where 
the finest ground pigment could not enter. It must not 
however be so penetrating that it will filter through out 
of sight and leave the pigment entirely. Besides it 
must be able to solidify without any shrinkage of its 
bulk as that would imply some room left open for the 
passage of air. It must also be water or moisture proof 
and that the latter cannot dissolve it nor wash it out. 
So the reader must see at once that the vehicle even 
more than the pigment has a mission to fulfil that re- 
quires a number of good qualities to fit it for the pur- 
pose. 

112. Of all the many liquid substances which can 
be used for the binding of paint or of dry substances 
which when dissolved in water are used as vehicles for 
pigments (as gum arabic or glue) none fulfil the con- 
ditions enumerated in the preceding paragraph as well 
as "Linseed oil," the king of the fixed oil and what is 
of enormous importance — as cheaply as that will. It is 
the painter's best friend. 

Linseed oil in common with all other fixed oils 
possesses the quality of absorbing some oxygen from 
the atmosphere and by that subtle gas aid, to solidify 
after having formed a union with it into a waterproof 
rubber-like gum which is elastic and which lends itself 
to the contraction and expansion of the material over 
which paint has been applied so that while solidificatior 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 181 

takes place, it is not caused by evaporation out rather 
by absorption without loss of bulk, but rather with a 
slight increase of it as it actually does so when it 
combines with oxygen some 8 per cent, thus swelling 
up tightly into every nook in the side of the pores 
through which it has become absorbed. So that it 
not only binds but iills at the one operation. 

The life of linseed oil is prolonged or shortened by 
the action that is produced upon it by the pigments 
with which it has been mixed. 

Some pigments are neutral ; that is, neither acid nor 
alkaline and such have no effect whatever upon it other 
than the separation it produces between its atoms. 
Others again are active in that many of them are alka- 
line, in such a case the alkali will turn the linseed oil 
into a soap which when dry may be or may not be 
soluble and which according as it is one or the other 
may or may not be beneficial to its longevity. 

113. This needs more explanations. Red lead for 
instance is an active pigment, turning the oil into an 
oxy-linoleate lead soap, when dry it becomes insoluble. 
This soap becomes the best of cements to join two 
pieces of glass together and makers of aquariums use 
it for that purpose. This is certainly a very good proof 
of its insolubility. Another proof is the use made of 
it not only as first but as finishing coats for iron ships 
below the floating line where it remains continually sub- 
merged; it stands that where the neutral pigments 
would surely fail. 



.182 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

As a primer for iron it stands head and shoulders 
above any other pigment. It lends itself to all the con- 
tractions and expansions of that metal without cracking 
or checking. So the reader will see that the proper 
kind of an emulsion is not harmful but the reverse. 

An emulsated oil, be that a good one or a bad one, 
will not be subjected to any other changes but dries out 
its water of emulsion by evaporation leaving the lino- 
leate soap to dry in its accustomed manner. But it is 
not iron and steel alone which are benefited by the red 
lead priming, nearly all other metals needing paint as a 
protection or as an embellishment are greatly benefited 
by having been primed with it — when afterward as its 
color is objectionable for many purposes they may re- 
ceive over that any other color wanted. Galvanized 
iron either on plain surfaces or on cornices. which have 
been primed with the ordinary mixtures of paint used 
for the rest of the buildings usually scales off in a short 
while, but let it be painted with red lead for first coat 
and there is no more danger of paint scaling after- 
ward than upon any other part of the house. 

114. For wooden buildings there is nothing better 
than a coating of white lead or one of half white lead 
and half French ochre which has been finely ground. 
Both should be greatly thinned with linseed oil, just 
enough pigment being added to that to fairly show 
when applied to the building. 

115. For brick, stone and other porous mineral sub- 
stances finely ground English Venetian red is excellent 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 183 

as a primer but if the finishing coats are intended to 
be painted white or in light tints white lead and French 
ochre half and a half — both being also finely ground in 
oil will be better. If the brick or stone is soft the color 
should be as thin as for wood but if the brick or stone 
is very hard and non-absorbent the color should be 
mixed with more pigment and well rubbed out to keep 
it from running. 

Cement which has recently become in almost general 
use in all kinds of house construction and which from 
its being so well adapted to such use is very likely to 
grow into becoming the leading material in the near 
future seems to require a long time to ripen and un- 
dergo certain changes during which time it exudes 
certain salts which have the property of staining 
through paint, thus greatly damaging not only its ap- 
pearance but in disintegrating the coating also. Here- 
tofore it has not been considered safe to apply any 
paint to it until all the deleterious matter it contains 
had come out or was washed away. Many painters 
were afraid to undertake the painting until a cement 
building had been exposed a couple of years at least. 
Thanks however to Mr. Charles MacNichol of Wash- 
ington, D. C, who very disinterestedly made known to 
his brother master painters in convention assembled the 
results of his experiments which enables him to paint 
over cement as soon as he would over any other kind 
of material. It is very simple and consists in dissolving 
equal parts by weight of sulphate of zinc and water and 



184 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

of painting the surface of the cement with the solu- 
tion applying it as any other paint. From all reports 
of those who have tried it it seems to do the work. 

THE PAINTING OF EXTERIOR SURFACES. 

1 1 6. a. Considerable space has been devoted to 
noting the various conditions and building material over 
which exterior painting is usually done; each kind of 
material we have seen, having its own peculiarities, in 
the form of its atoms, their sizes, closeness of adherence 
together, etc., requiring in some instance a difference in 
the treatment they should receive in the "priming" as 
it is the coating which unites the paint to the surfaces 
any number of subsequent coats may be put on. The 
importance of its being well done in a workmanlike 
manner warrants all the space that has been taken up 
in the telling of it, if it will induce the reader to do it 
well — and more. As to the manner of the application 
of the paint, it is supposed that the reader is sufficiently 
acquainted with the "Modus operandi" of the handling 
of the brush to need any lengthy advice as to the hoiv 
it should be done; nor would it be very easy to show 
him how it is done "under printer's type" ; but a few 
words will be said in the following sections regarding 
priming and the application of the second and third 
coats of paint upon various surfaces. 

PRIMING. 

b. For woods, use white lead or white lead and 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 185 

French ochre, both to be finely ground in oil and heavily 
thinned with raw linseed oil. In cold weather if the 
oil is at all viscid, it will be well to add as much as }i 
of turpentine or benzine to it as it will be necessary to 
render it more limpid. It should also have in addition 
a tablespoonful of some good liquid drier to the quart 
as otherwise it might take too long to start it to dry- 
ing and it might become fatty and sticky. No such 
advice as to adding either is given for priming in warm 
weather as then neither volatile oil nor drier is needed. 
Then oil is very fluid and will penetrate into the pores 
but when cold renders it viscid, it becomes sluggish and 
is not sufficiently fluid to penetrate as it should. Prim- 
ing thus treated will penetrate where otherwise it could 
not and really more linseed oil thus thinned out 
can be crushed into the pores than would be possible 
when it is in a viscid condition without the addition. 

It is superfluous to say that the surface of the job 
must be well cleaned and the dust well brushed off be- 
fore the priming is applied. The lumber should be dry 
also. The pernicious practice of following up the car- 
penter with a brush and of priming a board as quick 
as he has hammered in the last nail, may serve his pur- 
pose in preventing any shrinkage on his work. Such a 
practice is all right enough when the lumber is good 
and dry and when there is little moisture in the atmos- 
phere, but during wet weather it is the reverse. It is 
better to let the lumber have a day's drying rather than 
to paint it damp. It may check, that is true, but better 



186 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

have a few checks which can be puttied up than bHsters 
and paint cracking. 

c. For iron. If the iron is new and free of rust 
which is seldom the case, it will be fit to be primed after 
a good cleaning of dirt and dust, etc. ; it may have 
scales and these should be removed with a putty knife 
and a stiff wire brush, as otherwise the priming coat 
will not penetrate into the main body of the iron and 
such unpainted parts would soon rust. If as usual the 
iron or steel lias already started to rusting, a good free 
use of the wire brush will remove it, and a good dusting 
from the painter's duster will fit it to receive the prim- 
ing. As it has been already said, there is nothing 
better, if as good, for the priming of iron, steel and 
other metals than red lead. This pigment cannot be 
bought ready ground up in oil and must form an excep- 
tion to the advice given— never to use colors in a dry 
state in the covering of surfaces with linseed oil paint. 
Red lead has the property of turning linseed oil into a 
soap as noted before, but it has another also 
whidh prevents its preparation in advance by grind- 
ing in oil as other pigments in that it has the 
property of becoming hardened in it. This would 
render it useless for brushing out, this hardness 
in time being nearly that of the metal itself, 
therefore it is better to mix it up in oil as wanted 
on the job and still better after having so mixed it to 
run it through a hand paint mill. When put through 
the mill more oil can be used with it without its running 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 187 

than possible by a simple addition of it to the dry pig- 
ment. If put on without the grinding it will have to be 
applied much thicker than any ordinary pigments used 
tor priming would have to be otherwise the lead being 
coarser and heavy will separate from the oil and run 
in streaks down the sides of the job. It should there- 
fore be put on thick and rubbed out thin which will 
if carefully done prevent the separating of the red lead. 
d. For brick and stone. If the brick work is in 
good condition and the mortar lines solidly filled and 
the sun has been shining good and bright for a few 
days, so that there is no possibility of any moisture re- 
maining anywhere upon the surface to be painted then 
it is ready for the priming, after having first been well 
cleaned up with the duster. But if the building is an 
old one and has never been painted before it is very 
likely that some of the mortar joints may have to be 
filled up to the same level as the rest of it. This 
should be attended to some few days ahead of the prim- 
ing in order that the moisture may pass entirely away 
before it is applied. The job dusted and cleaned pro- 
ceed to coat it over by a good, faithful brushing in of 
the priming which for a red brick finish or any other 
dark colors may consist of good English Venetian red 
and for light colors of half and have 'P'rench ochre and 
white lead; neither should be thinned quite so freely 
as stated for wood priming — but it should not be nearly 
so thick as used generally for the finishing coats on 
wood but more like the consistency of that used for 



188 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

second coating" on three coat work on wood; but no 
very fixed rule can be given for the reason that brick 
and stone vary greatly in their absorbing power — a soft 
brick being very much more absorbent than a hard one 
and the same may be said of stone. The priming will 
necessarily have to be adapted to suit the particular 
job it is applied upon and the thinning will need to be 
much more freely done for the softer surfaces than 
for the hard ones where there is little absorption and 
where consequently the priming must be put on thick 
and rubbed out thin. 

e. Cement. After the cement or cemented surface 
has received its coat of sulphate of zinc and water and 
the latter has evaporated away as described in the pre- 
ceding paragraph then it should be primed with a good 
medium heavy coat of white lead and French ochre 
half and half of each which must be well rubbed in and 
brushed out, as cem.ent is not very absorbent being in 
that respect very similar to a hard burnt brick and there 
would be some danger of the priming running if put on 
too thin. 

THE SECOND COAT. 

117. It is becoming quite a custom to give new 
wood work only two roats of paint and to wait a year 
or so before putting on any more paint on the building. 
This is a very foolish practice to say no more about 
it and the architects who so specify must be hard up 
for a place to save their client's money as to want to 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 189 

mar the beauty of finish of a building they have planned 
and which would be more creditable to them if turned 
out with the best looks possible than the measly looking 
things it is possible to make of them in two coat work. 
But they have not only hurt the look of it by so specify- 
ing but have deliberately planned to ruin all the future 
painting that may be put on the building. 

The reader will remember the reasons given for a 
thin priming for wood structures. Now if the job is 
to be finished in two coats such a thin priming as rec- 
ommended is an impossibility, because if so given the 
second which is to be the finishing coat on such jobs 
will not cover sufficiently well and both the architect and 
the owner would make a kick about it, so of necessity 
the priming coat has to be given too heavy and thus 
become a pretty sure cause for future trouble. It 
seems that any one would or should know that in a 
heavy coat of priming much of the oil used in spread- 
ing the pigment will be absorbed away from it by the 
pores underneath and that what is left has an insuffi- 
cient quantity of oil which will leave the priming dry 
and porous. Priming cannot be both a penetrating coat 
and a binder for a surface coat at one and the same 
time. But this is what is required of it if the second 
coat of paint is to be the last. As to the supposed sav- 
ing, it is not worth considering — the three coats neces- 
sary to good work will take but little more material 
than the two heavy coats given and the saving will 
be in the application only. But no matter how heavy 



190 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

the first coat may have been applied, it cannot stop the 
suction evenly and the second coat must dry uneven in 
appearance over it, as it will sink in, in the soft parts 
of the wood, and in the parts where there is no suction 
it will be glossy, giving a sort of arlequin look — any- 
thing but what is should be — certainly not a credit to 
the painter who puts it on, 

THE PAINTING OF THE SECOND COAT. 

Ii8. a. Before proceeding to the painting of the 
second coat — the puttying should be done. It is sup- 
posed that a reasonable time to dry has been given the 
priming coat. The word dry means something else 
besides that it will not rub off when it is touched. 
It means that the oil has undergone all the changes 
during the time it absorbs oxygen. This it does while 
it feels dry and for some days after, so that there should 
be eight or ten days allowed before it is real dry. 

b. Nail holes, joints, cracks and checks or any de- 
fects in the carpenter's work should be carefully gone 
over and stopped upon the priming coat and should 
never be done before the priming has been applied; 
for then the cracks, nail holes, etc., have been filled up 
with oil and the putty will stick to it, which it would 
not do if it had been done before for then the pores, 
cracks, etc., would have pumped all the oil out of it, 
leaving it oilless, showing fine lines all around it which 
could be seen through the several coats of paint ap- 
plied over it. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 191 

c. The painting of the second coat — -if that must be 
the last one, should be as heavy or even heavier than 
it is usual for the third coat where three coats are 
given. As the wood is not properly filled up, some of 
the oil of this second coat will be absorbed by the first 
coat, especially as that has been put on too heavy and 
that it has become porous from having its pigment left 
with an insufficiency of oil. This of course will make 
the paint flat from having to part with some of its oil 
to the pigment of the first coat. But as the knotty parts 
have little absorption, these localities will have a gloss 
with the result already mentioned that it will not look 
uniform. 

While the above is said concerning wooden buildings, 
it will also apply to brick and stone structures, as usually 
they absorb even more oil (being more porous than 
wood) and if the brick is at all soft it will absorb much 
more. Cement of course is less absorbent but still even 
upon that it is not always possible to make a good even 
looking job in two coats of paint. The puttying, if any 
be required, should be done before the application of 
the second coat as was related for that of wood. 

The second coat should be about the same as for 
wood, thinned to suit the job which may be so very 
porous as to be still absorbent in which case it can be 
thinned more than if it is to be the last coat; if it is 
to be followed by a third coat, it should be of nearly 
the same color as the finishing coat, just a shade darker 
to serve as a guide for the third coat, as then one can 



192 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

readily perceive if the whole of the surface has been 
gone over. The above will apply with equal force to 
all kinds of painting although it is not absolutely neces- 
sary. If the weather is cool, a little turpentine added 
to the second coat of paint will make it work better and 
will not harm it — but it must not be over done. 

THE THIRD COAT. 

119. After the second coat has become quite hard 
which will take about as long as the priming, it will 
be ready to receive the third or last coat. Before it is 
applied the surface should be slightly sandpapered to 
cut down any uneven streaks or dust and dirt which 
may have blowed against it while it was fresh. This 
sandpapering can be done as each stretch is being 
painted and while the ladders or scaffolding is being 
used for that, as it will save a needless moving of these. 

All new work after having received two coats of 
paint will be well filled and will have become non-ab- 
sorbent or very nearly so; consequently the third coat 
will dry upon the surface of the second without part- 
ing with any g{ its oil and will dry with a full uniform 
gloss. This seals up everything from the injurious 
action of the elements and will afford the protection 
that good painting is expected to give the surfaces over 
which it has been applied. 

For third coat the paint should be mixed middling 
heavy for all kinds of surfaces, wood, brick, stone, 
cement or iron and the thinner should consist entirely 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 193 

of linseed oil. No turpentine should be used, as it 
will need all the oil it should carry to bind on the pig- 
ment. Being rather thick and heavy it should be well 
brushed out but it should not be skinned on. 

REPAINTING OLD WORK. 

1 20. a. All that has been said in the previous par- 
agraphs concerning the painting of exterior surfaces 
supposed these to be new and to have never been painted 
before. The painting over of surfaces which have 
been painted before is somewhat different than that of 
U'iw work, yet in many respects it is similar to that. 
The chief difference being in the priming coat, which 
will not be necessary for old work. 

If the repainting has not been delayed too long there 
will be no difficulties. The linseed oil of the previous 
painting may have become porous but unless the paint- 
ing is very old, it will not absorb as much oil as the 
priming did when first put on. 

The surface should be well cleaned up and dusted 
and puttied up and two coats of paint applied over it 
which will make the job as good as ever again. 

But the paint may not be in good condition. From 
various causes it may be scaling or may have had so 
many coats put on it that it would be dangerous to 
apply any more to it. There is but one thing to do 
under such circumstances and that is to burn it off with 
a good gasoline torch following it up with a wide putty 
knife. Some are afraid tc undertake it. but with a 



194 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

little care it is safe enough and much the easiest 
way to remove old paint upon weatherboarding. Then 
the job should be sandpapered, primed anew, second 
and third coated as for new work. 

If the job is very old and weatherbeaten it may be 
necessary to fill it, for it will have become so absorbent 
that the oil will seem to soak clean through the boards 
and out again. 

b. Such old weatherbeaten surfaces are dreadful 
and will require more paint and oil than they are worth 
— if put on in the ordinary way. 

They should first be filled. A very good way to do 
that is to make an emulsion of the first coat of paint 
in this way : Take 25 lbs. of white lead and add this 
to 10 lbs. of whiting which has been previously mixed 
up to a stiff paste with water. Mix the white lead with 
it, paddling it until it has formed into a stiff paste. In 
a short time the whiting which is carbonate of lime will 
have emulsated the oil and the two will mix readily. 
Now thin this with half linseed oil and half sweet milk 
— putting in the sweet milk first, a little at a time — so 
that it may become absorbed before any more goes in 
when about half a gallon has been absorbed add about 
the same quantity of linseed oil. This may require a 
little more thinning for that quantity of material, if 
needed use more milk and oil in the same proportion. 
Apply this with a brush as any other paint when it 
will be found to slide over the old boards with ease, 
whereas before a brush full of all oil paint would hardly 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 195 

paint a surface larger than where it first touched the 
board. When gone over the surface will be much 
smoother than it would have been possible with an oil 
paint and a good coat of all linseed oil paint given 
over it will make out of it not only a nicer looking job 
of it but a much better one as well, much better in fact 
than it would if a whole barrel of linseed oil had been 
wasted upon it. 

No one need to be afraid that the above will go 
wrong with them for it zvill not. The writer is so sure 
of that that he is willing to stake his last cent on it — 
as not only being as good but better and that the finish 
will be smoother. Any one who has had such old jobs 
to paint will comprehend what is meant by that, es- 
pecially if he has done the painting in the ordinary way 
— to such this smooth finish will be a revelation and 
will astonish them. 

As stated before two coats are usually enough for re- 
painting any old work excepting when it has been 
burned ofif. 

QUESTIONS ON EXTERIOR PAINTING. 

io8. What is said of exterior painting in general? 

109. What are the causes of decay in exterior 
painting? 

1 10. How does paint protect surfaces ? 

111. What action performs the vehicle in surface 
protection ? 

112. In what way does linseed oil fulfil the require- 



196 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



ments needed as a vehicle of pigments in exterior 
painting? 

113. What is said of red lead as an iron primer? 

1 14. What is the best wood primer? 

115. Wliat pigments are best for priming brick, 
stone, etc.? 

What is said of the painting of outside 

work in a general way? 
How should wood buildings be primed ? 
How should iron be primed ? 
How should cement be treated and 

primed ? 

What is said regarding finishing the ex- 
terior painting on new work in two 
coats ? 

When should the puttying be done ? 

When should the second coat be applied ? 
How should the painting of the second 
coat be done ? 

How should the third coat be mixed and 



116. a. 

b. 
c. 

e. 

117. a. 



118. 



h. 

a. 
b. 



119. 
applied ? 



120. 



What is said regarding the painting of 
old buildings ? 

How would you treat old weatherbeaten 
buildings? 

How should paint be mixed for repaint- 
ing? 



Modern Painter*s Cyclopedia 197 

ENAMELING. 

CHINA OR PORCELAIN FINISH. 

121. China, Porcelain or Enamel painting are con- 
trovertible terms for the same thing. It is a most 
beautiful way of painting the interior wood work of 
rooms. It may be done in any self color without orna- 
mentation or it may be used in connection with gold 
upon some member of the moulding, but it looks best in 
white or light tints. 

In the white or in very tender tints such as ivory 
white or pearl white only will it show its beautiful effect 
of solidity yet with an indescribable transparency which 
is so much admired. The gloss without this transparency 
would be apt to clog and look heavy when done in dark 
tints or colors. As 95 per cent of enameling is done in 
white the process described below is mainly applicable 
to that and other very light tints. For dark colors the 
number of coats can be reduced, as no such care will 
be required to build it up. 

122, When the job is new and has never been painted 
before the wood work should be carefully dusted and 
the room swept clean of dirt and dust before commenc- 
ing operations; then it should be primed with white 
lead and linseed oil, put on somewhat thicker than rec- 
ommended for the priming of the exterior of wooden 
buildings. 

This priming coat should be allowed fully one week 
before it is painted over with the second coat. The 



198 Modern Painte/s Cyclopedia 

puttying up of all nail holes, depressions, cracks and 
any hollow defects should also be done now with putty 
prepared as described in paragraph 47, which see, as 
that will sandpaper smooth. 

123. The second coat should be mixed from flake 
white and zinc white half and half of each by weight. 
If flake white is not readily obtainable, some good 
white lead — that is white may be used instead. This 
should be thinned with linseed oil and turpentine half 
and half of each and applied smoothly. When dry 
which should take another week if the time can be - 
spared, if not then in not less than three days, the coat- 
ing will be ready for sandpapering and dusting after- 
ward. Should any imperfections have been overlooked 
in puttying up on the priming coat, it should now be 
attended to as it is the only time when it can be rem- 
edied by leveling up with the same kind of putty as 
was used before. The second coat should be mixed 
also a trifle heavier than it is usual to do on outside 
work which is to be followed up with a third coat. 

124. The third coat should consist of zinc white 
ground in poppy seed oil for the best class of finish, 
although a good green seal French process zinc ground 
in bleached linseed oil will answer nearly as well. No 
white lead should be used on this coat. When good 
genuine French process zinc white has been used and 
it is thinned with % of poppy seed oil or bleached lin- 
seed oil and }i turpentine put on rather thick and well 
rubbed out, the job should look solidly and uniformly 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 199 

white carrying a fine semi-gloss. If however for any 
reason it should not look perfectly white and uniform 
then give it another coat, 

125. Fourth coat mixed as described for the third 
and the job should be gone over with it in the same 
way. This will assure a full, uniform finish all over 
the surface alike. It always pays in the end to give 
this fourth coat even when one feels reasonably certain 
that the third is all it should be. 

126. The fifth or the Hat coat should be mixed from 
green seal French process zinc white and should be 
thinned with turpentine only with just enough very 
light colored varnish to bind it on and this should be 
laid with a camel's hair coach color brush — after the 
previous coat has been carefully sandpapererd and 
dusted off and the room swept clean, with all windows 
and doors shut to keep the air out so that the coating 
may set as slow as possible in order to have time to 
make joints on the work without doubling up and show- 
ing laps. This coat dries rapidly and usually will be 
ready for the next in twenty-four hours. 

127. The sixth coat should consist of green seal 
French process zinc white ground in damar varnish, 
thinned with half damar varnish and half turpentine 
and should be very evenly applied with a camel's hair 
coach color brush. 

128. The seventh and last coat should be damar 
varnish of good quality into which just enough zinc 
white has been added to tinge it slightly — this is done 



200 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

in order to remove any tinge of yellowishness that 
might be present in the damar varnish and it will also 
prevent any cloudiness on the finish, but it must not 
be overdone as the less color used the better it will 
be. It goes without the saying it that nothing but a 
camel's hair brush should be used in applying it. While 
it must not be flowed on as in finishing carriage work, 
it should be put on full and not skinned on. 

This sort of finish requires seven coats as narrated, 
but if the third is good enough the fourth may be 
dispensed with reducing it to six. The extra coat,' 
however, is best to be put on and where economy need 
not be practiced it is better to always give it to make 
assurance doubly sure. 

When tints are used instead of white alone a good 
copal varnish of pale tone can be advantageously sub- 
stituted for the damar as that is softer and less water- 
proof than the other ; besides it will stand harder usage 
in cleaning than that too. 

This makes a beautiful finish with a soft porcelain 
or china look which shows transparency and opaque- 
ness combined — a depth of tone similar to some that 
are obtained by the coach painter in over glazing and 
it carries a look which is unobtainable by any other 
method. The "modus operandi" may be thought irk- 
some, but after all it is not so very difficult as many 
suppose it to be. Neatness and cleanness throughout 
all the operations is the main thing and plenty of 
time so that no part need be hurried onward before 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 201 

it is fit for the next move. When disasters happen and 
sometimes they do, they can always be traced to the 
above two causes aside of that of the use of improper 
material for which there is no excuse. Of course it 
would be possible for a botch to so apply the china 
finish that an uneven surface would be produced and 
that instead of a joy producing affair might be made 
an eyesore, but no professional painter used to brush- 
ing out his paint evenly need be afraid to tackle it. 
129. On old work enameling. There is but little 
difference between the manner of doing that except 
in so far that the filling and priming coats having al- 
ready been done, this will be unnecessary. If the work 
has been painted white or very light tints after putty- 
ing up, sandpapering and cleaning it up properly a good 
coat of white lead should be given it thinned with 
J4 linseed oil and ^ turpentine, after which the mix- 
ing recommended for third coat for new work should 
be put on and the flat coat over that as this ought to 
make it very solid and opaque. Then the rest should 
be put on just exactly as recommended for the treat- 
ment of new wood. 

QUESTIONS ON ENAMELING. ' 

121. What is said of enameling? 

122. How should the wood work be primed? 

123. How is the second coat mixed? 

124. How should the third coat be mixed ? 

125. Is a fourth coat always necessary? 



202 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

126. How is the fifth or flat coat appHed? 

127. How is the sixth coat prepared ? 

128. How would you apply the seventh coat ? 

129. Wherein does enameling old work differ from 



new? 

FLATTING. 

130. The flatting of paint upon wod work at least 
is usually done upon the inside only. It is by far the 
prettiest manner of finishing it. Flatting has a soft- 
ness of finish and reposeful look to it which cannot be 
obtained from gloss coats such as are given to the out- 
side of buildings. The preceding paragraphs give the 
method used in painting wood work in enamel which 
certainly carries a gloss too and the statements made 
under that head seem at first to be at variance with 
those made here ; but there is a wide difference between 
a glaring gloss such as linseed oil produces on the out- 
side and the softness of finish of an enamel such a 
was described — but even the subdued and toned down 
glare of an enamel coat would pall upon most persons 
if every room in the house should be done with it. As 
only a few such are done in most houses the change 
from the flat to a well done enamel is pleasing by con- 
trast. A whole house alone in enamel would tire out 
its occupants much quicker than if it had all been done 
in flat work. 

If anything could make a person walk about with a 
chip on his shoulder looking for some one to touch it 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 203 

in order to find an excuse for knocking him down, that 
person is surely living in a house where glaring colors 
on walls and wood work stare him in the face the live 
long day and it would surely put an average man on 
the warpath. It acts upon him precisely as a red flag 
is said to act upon the optics of a bull, rendering them 
desperate. 

While glaring gloss paint possess this exasperating 
quality — if quality it be; flat or dead painting has just 
the contrary effect, it produces a quieting effect upon 
the mind. 

131. To Hat wood work which has been painted 
before, it should have had at least three coats including 
the priming. 

There is a rule in flatting paint which applies with 
equal force upon all kinds of material or surfaces over 
which it is put to wit : That the flat coat should be put 
on over a gloss coat or that if a gloss coat is desired 
that it should be put on over a flat one. If the reader 
will bear this in mind, he will never have trouble in ob- 
taining a good flat or gloss upon any kind of surface. 

If the wood work is old and has been already finished 
flat or semi-flat and it is to be refinished in flatting so 
much the better as one coat of gloss can be applied over 
it which will make a good ground for the flat and will 
help hold it on, if the flatting is not delayed too long. 

To produce a dead flat the paint must be thinned with 
turpentine only. Usually most pigment ground in lin- 
seed oil contain enough of that to bind them on, but 



204 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

white lead is not ground with enough of it to bind it 
on as good as it should be and it would soon wash off 
with the ordinary cleaning painting receives in most 
households and it is much better to add a trifle of linseed 
oil to it in order to bind it better. This will make it carry 
a very slight gloss, barely noticeable, called an egg 
shell gloss — but it must not be overdone, one table 
spoonful to the pint of paint will suffice. This is ad- 
visable as better than a dead flat for the wood work 
which is subject to being touched by greasy -sweaty 
hands and what not — in unavoidable accidents. 

In warm weather all flat paints being thinned with 
turpentine evaporate very fast and set quickly so that 
to do good work, it must be put on very quickly so 
the painter should be very careful when painting the 
panels of a door not to run the paint over on the rails 
or stiles or in painting the rails to square up pretty 
even to the stiles in order that there may be no set 
paint upon such parts when he gets to them in the 
course of his painting. If he accidently does run over 
them he should wipe it ofif with a clean rag. 

Great care must be taken to close up all openings 
which might let in the outer air such as windows, doors, 
etc. This will prevent in a measure the too sudden 
evaporation of the turpentine and usually will give a 
person time to do the work before it sets. 

132. Flatting walls and ceilings demand exactly 
the same treatment as is required for wood work, to 
wit : a good gloss coat for underground. The same 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 205 

care to keep out drafts of air and air itself as much as 
possible. One person should never undertake to flat 
the walls or ceiling of a room alone, but should always 
have another man to help him. 

On the ceilings of most ordinary sized rooms, the 
work can be divided up in two stretches. The first 
rnan commencing the painting at the side of the room 
on to the center when the other man takes it up on to 
the opposite side, continuing in this way until the ceil- 
ing is done. If the ceiling is very wide, in halls and in 
stores, three and even four or more men will be needed 
to carry the full width along through. 

On an ordinary sized room the walls can also be 
divided up in two strips, with one man to take the 
upper strip from the ceiling down to the middle from 
a step ladder while the lower man can do the rest of 
it from the floor. Where the walls are above lo feet 
three or more men will be needed according to height. 

If the job is to be stippled as it should be, it will be 
better to have the previous gloss coat also stippled as 
one coat only is apt to look uneven. On the flat coat the 
stipplers should be right behind the men who apply the 
flatting and should never allow the flat paint to become 
set before the stippling has been done for no good 
stippling can be done over paint that has set. 

133. Brick flatting is not so difficult to execute as 
the same kind of work on wood or plaster because the 
painter can stop his painting anywhere, if he squares it 
up to a brick joint either at the bottom or side of a 



206 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

stretch. It requires carefulness mainly. The flatting of 
brick work on outside or exterior surfaces can have 
but one excuse which is to imitate pressed brick by 
producing an even dead flat surface. This it very 
closely does. 

Like all flatting the ground to hold it should be pretty 
glossy and oiled and to have been painted but a couple 
of days previous to the application of the flat coat for 
the reason aready given and another very good one be- 
sides which is that the gloss coat being still tacky will 
dry and hold the flat coat very fast and this it sorely 
needs as the turpentine thinner which was used in its 
application could not be of any help in holding it on 
with the battle it must endure against the warring ele- 
ments which would otherwise make short work of it 
and wash it ofif. But if done as recommended before 
the gloss coat has completely hardened the two prac- 
tically become one coat only, drying together. 

QUESTIONS ON FLATTING. 

130. What is said of flatting in general? 

131. How is the wood work flatted ? 

132. How is flatting done on plastered walls? 

1 33. How is brick flatting done ? 

FRESCO PAINTING. 

134. True Fresco such as practiced the great mas- 
ters of the Renaissance period and of which the greatest 
of them all Michael Angelo has left such numerous and 
shining examples, may be said to be a dead art today as 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 207 

few if any practice it even in an amateurish way. This 
no doubt is due to the fault of this age "Huiry." The 
present times require speed and to be just — to the many 
new ways and inventions in pigments as well as in the 
methods of their application which were unknown in 
the days when it flourished. 

True fresco is very far removed from what is now 
understood to be that art under the same name. Fresco 
in Italian means fresh and it indicates the character of 
the painting it designated, i. e., painting upon fresh 
laid plaster. In fact it was a part of the plastering itself 
as the frescoer in those days had to do it himself and 
no faster than he could color it and put it on. So the 
fresh lime and sand served him both as surface and 
binder. Naturally he was restricted in the use of pig- 
ments to such as were not affected by lime ^nd one 
can well wonder today at the knowledge of effects they 
must have had to judge of the right mixture to make 
the variations in their shadings to produce such Hfe like 
pictures as they did with the limitations of such re- 
stricted palettes as they possessed then. 

True fresco will have to be dismissed with the few 
outlines of it that are given above, as such it is now 
too near obsolete to warrant any more details concern- 
ing it. A few artists have tried hard to renew it but 
its revival never extended beyond a narrow circle and it 
was not a success. It had its days and our age will 
have none of its slow methods and limitations of 
colorings. 



208 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

135. Fresco pamting or the decorative painting 
which is known under that name in America today is of 
two kinds to wit : ist. Fresco painting in water colors 
or distemper. 2d. Fresco painting in oil colors on 
flattened walls and ceilings. 

136. Fresco painting in water colors or distemper is 
very popular and a number of our largest churches, 
halls, theatres, and private residences as well as public 
buildings are decorated in that manner. As the prep- 
aration of the walls and ceilings is similar to calcimin- 
ing the reader is referred to what is said In paragraphs 
31 to 38 for full information concerning this as it is 
the same up to the point where the decoration com- 
mences. As the decoration and the manner of execut- 
ing it is very much the same for both water color and 
oil painting aside of the difference of mixing the colors 
and their manipulations previous to their application, 
this will be considered together making due allowance 
for their difference. 

137. a. Fresco pointing in oil requires a proper 
preparation of the walls and ceilings with oil paint to 
fit them for receiving the decorations. Fresco painting 
in oil is by far the most satisfactory and the most per- 
manent way of doing this work. Unlike water color 
fresco, the walls can be washed with water and ordinary 
dirt can be easily cleaned off from them without injury 
to the decorations therefore it should be encouraged 
more than it is. It is very true that on account of its bet- 
ter flatting properties that water color frescoing looks 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 209 

best for a while at least — but when a person takes in 
consideration the great danger of having the whole work 
spoiled it is questionable if the difference in looks will 
warrant one in taking such risks. The superior finish 
and transparent effects of the decorative painting done 
in oil colors too, will more than balance the lack of 
perfection in the flatting of the walls. While the prepa- 
ration of the walls is much cheaper in water colors 
than in oil the cost of the decorations which is really 
the main item of expense to be considered is very nearly 
the same for both and if this is at all intricate the dif- 
ference will be slight in the making up of the total. 

PREPARATION OF THE WALLS FOR OIL FRESCO. 

b. There are three methods employed in preparing 
walls so that they may be decorated in oil fresco, which 
are as follows : 

1st. To size the walls with glue size or a surfacer 
with a glue size over it and to give them one coat of 
gloss paint followed by a flat coat upon it. 

2d. To paint one coat of linseed oil paint over the 
walls, then give one coat of glue size over it to be 
followed with one coat of gloss and another of flat 
paint over it. 

3d. The last is the best way. It consists in paint- 
ing the walls with three coats of oil paint and to follow 
this with another of flat paint. 

The first method answers fairly well, when there is 
lio danger of moisture or water coming through the 



210 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

plaster. If there is and there always is such a possibility 
in accidents, the glue will swell and surely crack and 
peel off. 

The second is much less likely to suffer from such 
a cause, but yet it is not entirely immune from injury 
from that cause. Water if present for a long time 
will filter finally through the one linseed oil coating 
and the sizing will also flake off. 

But the third is a dead sure thing and a perfect 
guarantee can be given with it from any such a cause 
and that it will last as long as the plaster is not knocked 
off or other injuries received from the outside. 

Some plastered walls have very persistent fire cracks 
as they are technically called by fresco painters. These 
fire cracks do not appear usually until after the painting 
of the first oil coat. They run in all directions and seem 
to absorb oil "ad libitum" nor to seem to know when 
they have enough of it. Ordinarily three coats of oil 
paint plus one flat coat over them suffice to stop this 
suction but then again sometimes it will not. In such 
a case there is nothing to do but to give another 
coat after the third and in some very bad cases even 
another may be needed to stop this suction as it would 
mar the finish. This is hardly ever necessary and as 
said before three coats plus a flat one is usually all that 
is needed and where so much expense has been incurred 
an extra coat should not be dispensed with if necessary 
to insure a good finish. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia . 211 

THE TOOLS NEEDED. 

138. Level and plumb, straight edges, T square 
dividers of various sizes, some long legged wooden 
ones, chalk lines, etc., a number of various sizes of small 
bristle brushes of round, flat and triangular shapes (the 
latter for angles), see Figs. 18 and 19. The large cal- 
cimining brush (Fig. i) and various sizes of water 
color camel's hair brushes. For very fine work in oil or 
water colors, a full set of artist's brushes in sable, ox 
hair and camel's hair will also be needed. 

For oil work there will be needed for the preparing 
of the walls some good wall brushes, as shown in Figs. 
3 and 4 and a stippling brush Fig. 2. 

Step ladders, trestles and some two inch thick walk- 
ing boards. Some few 12 quart galvanized pails for 
use in distempering, some one gallon tin pails for col- 
ors used in painting the walls in oil, and a number of 
small tins to hold the colors needed for the decorative 
portion of the work. Glue pot, strainers, etc. These 
are the principal tools and appliances needed. To these 
however, every decorator has some pet tool or another 
that he would wish to add to the list. 

MATERIAL USED. 

139. a. For distempering: Whiting is the prin- 
cipal color used as a base for tinting. For self coloring 
or for the preparing of tints, all kinds of dry pigments 
excepting such as are noted as unsafe to use in water 
colors under the heading of "Colors." Gum arable 



212 • Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

glue, and gold leaf besides all the bronzes, metallics, 
flitters, etc. 

b. For oil work : White lead and zinc white ground 
in oil. All the various pigments which are to be found 
ground in oil may be used in decorating. 

THE PAINTING. 

140. Painting the walls in distemper and preparing 
the colors for the same is identically the same as fully 
described under the heading "Calcimining," so the 
reader is referred to paragraphs 34 to 37 for the in- 
formation required. 

141. This work in oil as it was seen, is entirely 
different from that done in water colors. See para- 
graph 125, as that explains the various methods suffi- 
ciently and needs not to be repeated here. 

THE DECORATING. 

142. This is a big subject, so it will be impossible 
to do it justice in the space available, for it must cover 
the whole field of designing in lineal, mechanical and 
free hand drawing, each of which by itself, alone, 
would more than fill this volume. 

For the cheaper work, most of it is done with sten- 
cils in one, two, three or more colors, either in dis- 
temper or in oil with a few hand painted lines. The 
ceilings being usually divided in panels and stiles, the 
latter of a different tint, bordered by a narrow divid- 
ing line from the panel. Some small stencil bordering 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 213 

is sometimes used and also in other cases a stenciled 
center piece with corners and a break between. The 
walls receive a stenciled border or frieze. The reader 
is referred to that portion of this manual treating spe- 
cially upon stencils for fuller information regarding 
them. 

Much hand decoration can be made by persons who 
know little of drawing, if they buy some of the deco- 
rative schemes that are for sale or which they can copy 
and enlarge from books on decoration, to be had from 
most art stores. They must not undertake anything 
too intricate at first but gradually work their way up- 
ward. Much of decoration even in hand work is repe- 
titions of a few designs. These can be enlarged to the 
exact size desired upon a sheet of manilla paper. When 
the design has been copied to the satisfaction of the 
decorator, it should be run over all its lines with a 
tracing wheel or in default of it, pricked through with 
a coarse needle. The better way to do this is to place 
the sheet upon a cushion or some blanket or cloth so 
that the needle will pierce it more easily. When so 
pricked the holes will not readily clog up. The pounces 
so prepared can be used to duplicate a design any num- 
ber of times wanted. It is "held in place upon the 
ceiling or walls by means of small thumb drawing tacks 
with wide heads and small short points. A small piece 
of muslin, not too closely woven, in the center of which 
has been placed a few spoonsful of powdered charcoal 
or some dry color which can be seen on the wall, and 



214 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

the side of the rag drawn up tight around it, after tying 
some string around it, the pricked design is pounced 
over with this color bag and it will be found that it has 
sifted through the holes in the design onto the walls 
and marked out an exact duplicate of the design pricked 
on the paper, which can be traced out with a brush and 
colored to suit, in as many colors as desired. 

The whole ceiling should be laid out true and 
squared up for the paneling, center, corners and 
brakes, and their true position mapped out, and then 
it is ready for the painting of the decoration. 

While the beginner is not advised to undertake to do 
a class of work which requires much previous training, 
there is much very pretty, neat decorations which he 
could do and with some practice gradually grow up into 
the more intricate parts of the business. He should 
study drawing and the harmonious use of color, for 
without that the ability of a Michael Angelo would be 
of no avail and his best work would look — Bum. 

QUESTIONS ON FRESCO PAINTING. 

134. What is true Fresco? 

135. How many sorts of Fresco (so called) ? 

136. What is Fresco in water colors? 

137. a. What is Fresco painting in oil colors? 

b. How are walls prepared for frescoing in 
oil? 

138. What are the tools and appliances needed? 

139. a. What material is needed for distemper 

work? 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 215 

b. What material is used in oil Fresco ? 

140. How are walls done in water colors? 

141. How are they done in oil colors? 

142. What is said about the decorating? 

GILDING AND BRONZING. 

143. a. Gilding is the name used to designate 
the art of laying on of gold leaf and binding it on to 
surfaces for the purpose of ornamentation. It is not 
a new art by any means, as it was practiced in very 
early days. Many persons who will read this have no 
doubt had the privilege of examining some of the old 
manuscript books preserved in the larger libraries with 
so much care, and must have witnessed with astonish- 
ment, the wealth of coloring with a profuse use of gold 
in the illustrations, that the Monks of the middle ages 
patiently wrought out in the making up of annals, 
chronicles and especially missals. One can hardly real- 
ize that such beautiful capitals and headings could 
possibly have been done during a period which many 
of us have been taught that ignorance reigned su- 
preme in the land. The pseudo historians who would 
have the people believe thus, however, cannot well hide 
the living witnesses to the contrary, in stone, paint- 
ings, gildings, carvings, in the shape of stately cathe- 
drals, churches, castles and public buildings and during 
that period the handicraft of the gold beater and gilder 
was probably as much used, according to the wealth 
of the times, as they are today. Much of the lacelike 



216 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

tracery of the sculptured woods which then was the 
covering — with tapestries used in the best rooms over 
the bare stone walls — were decorated with gilt . upon 
some members of moulding or to emphasize some par- 
ticular ornament. 

The use of gold in decoration is nearly as old as 
civilization itself and it would be hard to find some of 
the recently discovered remains of their vanished civil- 
ization without also finding that gold was used in 
some way or another in their ornamentation. 

The goldsmith and gold beater no doubt was known 
hundreds of years before western Europe was more 
than a vast forest broken up here and there with a lit- 
tle open ground which afforded pasturage to a few 
herds belonging to the tribal people whose descendants 
today claim more culture than any other nations of the 
world. 

With the great wealth which has resulted from the 
discovery of America by Columbus, and from the prod- 
uct of its numerous gold mines, has been continuously 
adding to that year by year ever since, gold becoming 
so plentiful, it is little wonder that its employment in 
decoration has been making a constant gain and that, 
at the present time there are few if any of the dwellers 
of the land who do not have more or less gilding or 
gilded objects in their home, let that be as humble as 
it may. If upon nothing else than a picture frame, or 
gilt-edged book or china cup. The use of gold leaf is 
enormous and it is not confined to the decorations of 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 217 

the interior alone by no means, but exterior decora- 
tions and embellishments are done with it on an 
enormous scale. Domes of the largest size are entirely 
covered with it on statehouses, churches, halls and 
other public buildings, producing most brilliantly lighted 
effects which please the eyes and civic pride of the 
millions who live in the cities containing them. Many 
private residences decorated with wrought iron crest-. 
ings have their most prominent parts emphasized with 
gold leaf, mouldings of outer doors and what not. But 
the most profuse use made of it upon exteriors is by the 
sign writer for gilded signs on wood or upon the glass 
fronts of stores or other public buildings. 

There must be some very potent reasons why gold 
has been employed for so long a time and for that of a 
constantly increasing use in ornamentation. In the 
first place, gold being very bright, of a rich tone, it 
illuminates everything it comes in contact with. It 
does not oxidize and with aluminum, another metal 
having the same property, it remains unchanged amidst 
the constant changing with which it is surrounded on 
all sides, so that while its first cost appears great when 
compared with the cheaper metals, its greater dura- 
bility to say nothing of its embellishing property, re- 
duces this in the end. The cost of application being 
the same if gold lasts as long as the object over which 
it is placed does and which would have had to have 
been done over many times over again with any other 
finish, the higher first cost will not appear so great 
after all and may really be the cheapest in the end. 



218 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

In interior work and ornamentation it is used even 
more extensively than upon the exterior; all kinds of 
wall ornamentation being adorned with it, even wall 
paper of the better sorts has some gold tracery upon it 
and in the higher grades it is put on by hand. Mould- 
ings and sculptured and carved parts on woodwork 
especially in the tasty and dainty — white and gold 
enamel finish. It imparts richness to water and oil 
color work so that the fresco painter must be a good 
gilder if he wishes to obtain good results from his 
work. Even the dinner table bears it up at least as 
the ornamentations on china platter, plate or cup bears 
witness. 

b. Gold is one of the most ductile of the metals and 
this is what makes its use possible to the extent it is for 
if gold could not be beaten out in sheets thinner than 
iron can be there would be but few persons so fortun- 
ately situated as to be able to afford to use it on account 
of its great cost. But its ductility permits its being 
beaten to a very remarkable degree of thinness and still 
leaving it entire and solid. It is possible to beat it so 
thin that it would take 350,000 sheets placed one upon 
another to make a pile of them one inch in height and 
one single ounce of gold will beat out into 2,500 leaves 
y/4 inches square, besides the tailings cut off to square 
the sheets and which are remelted again. 

144. a. Gold is alloyed with many other metals 
and in many different combinations with them to pro- 
duce the various colors of it demanded by certain in- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 219 

dustries for special objects. The colors of it that are 
best known and which all the supply stores handle are 
the "pale gold" which as the name indicates is of a 
light tone, to "deep" and "extra deep" which give the 
rich gold tones and which are mostly used. 

Gold leaf comes in books containing 25 leaves 3^ 
inches square and a pack contains 40 books or 1,000 
sheets. Gold leaf is placed between the paper leaves of 
a book hence the name. The leaves having been 
rubbed over with red chalk or bole to keep the leaf 
from sticking to the paper as otherwise there might be 
some greasy spots which might hold the gold when it 
would be broken to pieces when an attempt is made 
to remove them from the book. 

b. All gold leaf manufacturers now also pack it 
by first attaching each sheet of gold upon a sheet of 
paper just a trifle larger upon which some substance has 
been rubbed which gives the paper a slight adherence, 
sufficient to hold the gold leaf when these are placed 
inside of the books in the same manner as the loose 
leaves are. This is a good thing especially so to those 
who have to do any outside gilding as one may well 
infer, when even indoor the least breath of air will send 
it flying about like feathers. If the manufacturers 
would only use as good a quality of leaf for what is 
known as their "Stuck leaf" it would be all that could 
be desired, not only for outside where it can be used 
with impunity in any wind, but for inside also — except- 
ing always water and glue sizes for which they would 



220 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia' 

not answer. The better way is to use paraffine wax to 
rub over sheets of paper and stick the gold on it that 
is packed loose, it can then be cut with little or no waste 
and the leaf will have all the density that the loose leaf 
has usually to a greater degree than the "Stuck" or 
"Patent." 

145. The term "Gilding" has come to be used in- 
discriminatively so that now it covers all metal leaves 
as well as gold, so that silver, aluminum, imitation 
gold, Dutch metal, etc., are all included in under the 
title, at least in so far as that title applies to the applica- 
tion of the leaf, so that it is perfectly proper for a man 
to say that he is about to gild a surface in aluminum, 
however absurd it may sound to the uninitiated. 

146. a. Gilding in oil on ivood and other surfaces 
is the method most usually adopted for gilding any 
kind of a surface exposed to the elements, a size must 
be used to cover all the parts to be covered with gold. It 
will depend upon what the size consists of and of how 
it has been prepared, as to the resulting permanency 
of the work. Where pure gold leaf is used the size is 
protected from the injurious effect of the elements by 
the gold leaf itself, which we have seen, is not acted 
upon by oxygen. 

In order that the gold leaf may be applied easily and 
preserve its full lustre the sizing must be tacky. Tacki- 
ness does not mean stickiness, however, and gold 
should never be applied to a surface that is still wet 
or from which the size can be removed by placing a 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 221 

finger upon it and to which it would stick. It is a stage 
which oil painting acquires just before it becomes hard. 
In ordinary oil painting that stage is of very short 
duration and the proper time would be very hard to 
catch so that unless but a very limited quantity of gild- 
ing is to be done, such would become too dry before 
it could be completed and it would not hold the gold 
tightly or if the gilding was done just on the border 
of tackiness, then some parts probably would still be 
too wet and the oil would come through the gold mat- 
ting it and causing it to darken. 

But linseed oil may be so prepared that it will hold 
a tack on much longer than it is usual for it to do 
naturally — even for several days after it has set suffi- 
ciently hard to become tacky, thus allowing ample time 
for the completion of a very large amount of gilding. 
It is prepared in this way: Take shallow dishes into 
which pour raw linseed oil, then cover them with 
cheese cloth to keep out insects and dirt, but not air. 
Place these dishes upon a shelf inside next to a window 
where sun and air will have free access to them — but 
rain must be kept out. A few months of such an ex- 
posure will render the oil fatty — in other words, the 
oil will have been in constant contact with oxygen for 
so long a time that it has lost its power of absorbing 
much more and when painted out thin, even when 
driers are used in combination with it, it will dry as far 
as to become solid, but it will take a long time before 
it becomes bone hard. 



222 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

When a supply of fat oil has been obtained it should 
be bottled and kept for future use. It should be tried 
by itself to know how long it remains in good con- 
dition for gilding when used alone, than with various 
quantities of liquid driers to know how long it will 
take before it is ready for gilding and how long it re- 
mains in the proper condition. This description and 
mode of preparation will hardly suit the man who has 
a job of gilding to do in the near future, but he should 
take care to prepare some of it, for if he does not, he 
will have to depend upon such as all supply stores 
handle ready prepared and none are as good — certainly 
none can be any better than that which he can prepare 
for himself. The ready prepared fat oils of the stores 
come usually in three varieties : The quick fat oil size 
that will dry in twenty-four hours ready for gilding 
and hold a tack five or six hours. The medium fat oil 
size which suits the majority of gilders best of any, this 
usually dries in 24 to 30 hours ready for gilding and 
will hold a tack for twenty-four hours or longer. The 
slow fat oil size which requires 36 to 48 hours to dry 
fit for gilding and will hold a tack for several days. 
This is too slow for any purpose except upon very large 
surfaces and where the greatest solidity is desirable as 
the slow fat oil size has but little if any driers added 
to it and as it dries more naturally, it will have more 
life and elasticity to resist injury from the action of 
the elements. 

b. The surface to be gilded should have become 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 22? 

very dry by exposure to the atmosphere for several 
weeks after it has been painted and should be perfectly 
free from tackiness, for if it is not in such a condition it 
will probably hold the gold in many places where it is 
not wanted to stick. The surface should be well 
cleaned with soap and water and afterward rinsed with 
clean water to free it of any greasiness which may have 
gathered upon it from any cause. If it lays with its 
flat side up it should be sprinkled over with bolted whit- 
ing which should be well rubbed over it. Gold will not 
stick to it and such a surface being flat and whitish 
makes an excellent ground to size up with size which 
has not been colored up as that sometimes makes it 
specky, unless great care has been taken in preparing 
it. The size will show blackish and shiny. If the ground 
is very dark or the gilding is done on the side of a wall 
where the whiting cannot be used, a little chrome yel- 
low medium ground in oil should be added to the size 
and after having mixed it thoroughly, should be 
strained through some fine cloth. Previous to sizing 
such part it will pay well to go over all the parts 
adjacent to where the gilding is to be done with a 
freshly cut raw Irish potato, cutting off a fresh surface 
as needed. There will be a thin film of its juice left to 
which the gold will not adhere. After this is dry 
which will require but a few minutes the sizing can 
proceed. It should be applied with a camel hair brush 
and laid on evenly ; in running lines care should be taken 
to make them true and even sized without ragged edges 



224 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

and to bring them to the ends perfectly square. It is 
proper attention to these details that marks the work- 
man from the botch. It is now a matter as to whether 
the size used was a quick or a slow one as to how long 
the gilder will have to wait before laying the leaf but 
under the greatest temptations of hurrying up, he 
should hold his peace and wait till it has reached the 
full stage of tackiness as it is then only that he will ex- 
perience no trouble nor difficulties in laying his leaf 
properly. 

c. There can be several quick sizes made which- 
answer the purpose fairly well, especially if the gilding 
upon it is not expected to last forever. Japan (so 
called) gold size thinned with half its bulk of turpen- 
tine or the same mixture of quick drying varnish and 
turpentine, can be used for a quick gilding size; but 
as it has already been stated the gilder is sometimes 
sorely disappointed in not having caught the very short 
time when the size was in a proper condition to re- 
ceive the gilding and then he will have had all his pain 
and labor for nothing. 

After all there is little to be gained and very much 
to be lost by using any of the quick sizes and nothing 
but a case of absolute necessity and hurry will justify 
any one in taking such risks. The fat oil sizes can be 
quickened so they can be used over twenty-four hours 
after they have been applied. That is quick enough 
and then they lay in condition for several days. 

147. For gilding in water colors usually one should 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 225 

prepare two kinds of sizes — one that will permit of 
burnishing and the other which will make the gold 
look flat or matt it, as the gilder's technical name for 
it. 

The bttrnishing size is made from pipe clay and 
plumbago to which a small quantity of mutton suet has 
been added while they are ground up on the slab. 
These sizes require to be prepared as wanted and should 
be thinned with glue water of medium strength. 
There is so little gilding been done in water colors at 
the present time, that it will be better to buy it ready 
prepared when wanted as it will save the trouble of 
preparing it every time it is wanted. Those are spe- 
cially prepared so as to keep and probably have anti- 
septics added to them which prevent the suet from 
becoming rancid and ill smelling. This size takes on 
a good polish and will burnish, which operation should 
be performed with an agate burnisher. 

The second or matt size and Armenian bole, and is 
also thinned with glue water as stated for the previous 
one. It too can be bought ready prepared for use and 
this is much more convenient than preparing for one's 
self every time it is needed. It will not burnish and 
can be relied upon to dry "matt." 

148. More water color gilding is done upon picture 
frame molding and room molding than upon anything 
else and all things else put together. 

Picture frame makers use whiting sized up with glue 
for the purpose of filling and surfacing their moldings. 



226 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

They gve them an indefinite number of coats as some 
forms require more than others, which they continue un- 
til they obtain a good body to rub on and this they prO' 
ceed to do. This levels up the surface of the moldings 
smoothly and fits them to be burnished. They use both 
the burnishing and the matt size and they apply 5 or 6 
coats of it, which are rubbed smooth after each coat has 
dried, when they are ready for gilding by simply apply- 
ing water to the molding with one hand and with the tip 
holding the leaf letting it down to where the w^ater will 
carry it level on the molding, the water acting in much 
the same way as when gold leaf is applied to glass in 
glass gilding. When dry the gold is either burnished or 
remains matt according as to the size used. It requires a 
little practice to become efficient as to the proper way to 
handle gold for this work. One must acquire a certain 
deftness of motion in order to be able to do the amount 
of work which is considered a day's work in that trade, 
and the only way to gain this experience is by constant 
practice. 

GILDING ON GLASS. 

149. This kind of gilding is used mainly by sign 
painters and more will be said under that heading, as 
there are several ways of using leaf on glass which apply 
to sign work exclusively. But all styles and modes used 
for applying gold to glass require the same sizing which 
is that kind of glue known as Isinglass. This glue is 
very thin and nearly as transparent as glass and as much 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 227 

at least as mica, so it will not dull the gold when coming 
between it and the glass. It should not be made too 
strong either as then the gold will not burnish so well. 
A small piece the size of a nickel or a quarter of a dollar, 
should be soaked up in cold water until it has absorbed 
all of that of which it is capable, then it should be 
melted in warm, but not boiling, water which should not 
exceed much over a pint in quantity, to which should be 
added about a gill of grain alcohol. It should be 
strained through very fine silk cloth into a bottle which 
should be labeled and from which it can be used until ex- 
hausted, as the alcohol it contains will keep it from sour- 
ing. 

The glass to be gilded should be washed very clean 
with soap and water, rinsed wth clean water and again 
sponged with clear alcohol and dried carefully. This 
will remove any greasiness, fly specks or any other dirt, 
leaving the glass clean, and through which the gold wiU 
appear full of brilliancy and at its best. 

The designs to be gilded should be roughly sketched 
upon the outside so as to act as a guide in applying the 
[^old and to show the gilder if enough has been put on to 
afterward paint his design upon. Gold leaf is very frag- 
ile and much of it, even in the book before touching it, 
will be found either with small pin holes or even larger 
ones through which light can be readily seen and 
through which the paint used in backing it will also show 
through, for the above reasons it is always best to give 
a double coat of gold leaf. As soon as the first coat is 



228 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

dry, which is, say, half a clay or more, if there is no 
hurry, the second coat can be put on in the same manner 
as the first, which is to keep the surface of the glass well 
wetted with the isinglass size just ahead of the appli- 
cation of the leaf which should be transferred from the 
book with a gilder's tip. (See Fig. 32.) If sufficient 
size is on it will flow the leaf perfectly level on to the 
surface of the glass. Owing to the much wettings which 
the underparts receive, it should always be commenced 
at the top and the application continued downward, 
taking care to allow about 1/16 of an inch lap to insure 
a close fit between the pieces of gold. Where the mem- 
bers of the design are small and not closely clustered to- 
gether it will be well to cut the leaves up to the required 
width with a small margin allowance of it, but if the de- 
signs are clustered close, then it will hardly pay to cut 
the leaf up and it can be applied in full. The second 
coat is applied over the first in the same way. 

As glass gilding is usually done inside, there is usually 
no difficulty in protecting one's self against draughts of 
air, but sometimes it may be necessary to do so and 
screens should be put up to prevent it. A gilder's cush- 
ion which is simply a board through which a round 
handle to hold it up by is nailed some strips of felt should 
be glued on the upper side of it and upon that a chamois 
skin. All around it except in front a strip of stiff 
leather should be nailed on the side and one-third of 
the back part of it should be hooded. The gold leaves 
can then be stowed away underneath it, protected from 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 229 

air and can be pulled out with the tip upon the front part 
where they can be straightened and cut up with a gold 
knife into the required size. This gold knife need not, 
in fact should not, be sharp and it need not be pressed 
down upon hard as that would uselessly injure the 
chamois skin, it should be used like a saw, with a for- 
ward and backward motion, otherwise the gold will be 
ragged edged and will stick to the blade. 

The gilder's cushion can be bought ready made, but 
any one can make one for himself without being much 
of a mechanic, either. It is needless to say that its use is 
not confined to gilding upon glass, but that it is useful in 
oil gilding on wood, or in water color work as well. 

The design which is desired to appear in gold on 
glass should have been drawn upon a piece of manilla 
wrapping paper and holes pricked through it with either 
a tracing wheel or a needle, so as to allow it to be 
pounced upon the gold previous to backing it up with 
paint, as it will furnish the proper outlines for that op- 
eration. The paint should be mixed from coach colors 
ground in japan or varnish, but never from colors 
ground in oil ; they should be thinned with varnish and 
turpentine about half and half of each. It is best to give 
two coats of backing and this should be mixed exactly 
as directed for the first. When thoroughly dry the sur- 
plus gold can be washed off the glass. The backing 
coats of paint preserve the design from the water, but 
the gold which has not been coated over with it will 
wash off. If the sizing was strong, the water used in 



230 Modern Painter^s Cyclopedia 

tile washing should be warmed and then it will soon soak 
up the glue sizing so that it will come off. In washing 
surplus gold off of glass the water should be applied with 
a soft sponge only, as anything harsh might damage the 
clean cut edges made with the backing. Many begin- 
ners are in too great a hurry to wait until the backing is 
hard enough and commence the washing too soon, with 
the universal result that the edges curl and the perfect 
look of the work is damaged. 

BRONZING. 

150. Bronzing is not gilding although its main ob- 
ject and purpose is to create an impression in the mind 
of others that it is. It is a sham, but such a sham as 
false teeth and other false things which have become so 
common, that, notwithstand that no one is fooled by 
them it is broadly done and admitted as a matter of 
course. It permits the vanity common to human kind, 
a mild sort of outlet in making believe something that 
nobody believes. It enables the lady to buy a loc store 
plaster of paris statue to be daubed over with another 
IOC worth of gold (?) bronze, and made to represent 
an ormolu worth loc worth $50.00. La Fointaine in 
one of his fables tells of an ass who thought of scaring 
all the other animals he was chumming with — taking a 
lion's skin and dressing himself with it to procure the 
effect he desired but he had miscalculated the length of 
his ears nor did his bray correspond to the roarings of 
the genuine, so that no one was fooled after all. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 231 

Bronzes are to be found in all colors imaginable, and 
in such when used to produce certain metallic reflections 
in colors otherwise not obtainable in decoration they 
have a legitimate and even artistic look to them, and the 
ironical sayings just indulged in at their expense is only 
directed at their misuse in trying to imitate something 
which it is not. They are made from all sorts of com- 
poundings of metals, powdered glass and what not. 
The processes some of them undergo, are carefully 
guarded, so that the public usually is not invited into the 
manufacturer's sanctum sanctorum, especially when he 
has hit upon a happy combination which permits him to 
control the market upon it after a demand has been cre- 
ated for it. The cheaper inferior sorts quickly tarnish, 
but the good grades of it are remarkably permanent 
(some of them) and it is of these and of the manner of 
their preparation and of fixing the permanency which is 
kept as secret as possible. Chemists may find out their 
composition but the manner of keeping the fade out of 
them, is beyond the power of analysis. 

Bronzes are sold according to their fineness at least 
all the ordinary sorts are. Bronzes sell at from 50c per 
pound to $8.00. No doubt but that a good portion of 
the price paid for the higher grades by the consumers 
goes to the manufacturers to pay for the "know how." 

151. Bronzes may be applied with any kind of a 
size that carries a little tack so as to hold it on. If an 
object is to be bronzed all over, the size can be put on 
as a paint coat would be over it and when it has set suf- 



232 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

ficiently to have a tack, the bronze powder may be 
dusted on to it or better rubbed over it with a piece of 
cotton batting which has first been dipped in the bronze 
powder. In that way there will be little or no waste of 
the bronze. If only a certain design in bronze is to ap- 
pear upon the surface the object should be carefully 
washed and cleaned free of grease spots for if any tack 
caused by greasiness remains the powder would adhere 
to it. The oil, japan or varnish sizes must be put on in 
the same manner as related for gilding. But there is a 
better way and a much safer way and that is to mix the- 
bronze powder with a good vehicle which will bind it on 
the same as any other pigment. Many manufacturers 
put upon the market bronze sizing japans, etc. ; some are 
fair but many worthless. The best known and mostly 
used bronze sizing to be used for mixing those with it, 
is called "Banana Oil" of a strong, pungent, disagree- 
able odor of that fruit. For those who can stand that 
odor it is the best there is, as unlike the japans it leaves 
the bronze with a full unduUed metallic luster which is 
as bright after mixing as it was before, which cannot 
be said of the others. In fact it is mainly for that reason 
that objects which are solidly bronzed are sized all over 
and the dry powdered bronze applied over it — in order 
to preserve the full metallic reflection. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 233 

QUESTIONS ON GILDING AND BRONZING. 

143. a. What is said generally of the use of gold? 

b. How is gold leaf made? 

144. a. How many kinds of gold leaf are there ? 
h. How is gold leaf packed ? 

145. Is the term "Gilding" applicable to gold 

only? 

146. a. What is said of gilding in oil? 
h. How is it applied? 

c. How are quick sizes made and used? 

147. How are water sizes made and used? 

148. How do picture-molding makers prepare them 

for gilding? 

149. How is gilding on glass done? 

150. What is said regarding bronzing? 

151. How is bronzing applied? 

GLAZING. 

152. The technical term "Glazing" is in itself a 
very good description of what the operation it desig- 
nates consists of, so that its name is appropriate. 

Glazing, to painters, has a double signification, es- 
pecially to such who conduct a general business and 
who are glaziers as well — but to the coach painter, deco- 
rator or artist it has the signification which is given 
it here. It means with them the application of a coat of 
paint, giving to an already painted surface an artificial 
look of transparency and depth which appears some- 



234 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

what as if the previous coating of paint had been cov- 
ered over with a sheet of glass — hence the name. 

It imparts to planted surfaces an undescribable look 
of depth and effect which can be obtained in no other 
manner. As stated before the glazing coat must have 
another one of solid color under it. It must be made 
up with a transparent lake, or some of the transparent 
colors, or with a solid color which has been made trans- 
parent artificially. 

These glazing colors need not always be of the same 
tone as that of the solid color over which they are 
placed, and some of the richest effects are produced by 
glazing certain colors with a lake of a widely different 
tone. But some very pretty effects are obtained by 
glazing over colors with a glaze coat of a color of the 
same order, but of a different tone of it; for instance, 
for a carmine glaze a solid English vermillion coat is 
given, which when followed with a carmine glaze par- 
takes of the character of both, the vermillion tone being 
reflected through the transparency of the carmine 
glaze, but the carmine itself also showing its own par- 
ticular richness of tone. Thus a double tone is really 
produced. This is very pleasing to the eye, and this is 
why this effect is being used upon all first-class carriage 
work other than black. This is imitated by a blend of 
solid colors for cheaper work, but, like all imitations, it 
falls far short of the genuine. 

In carriage work the glazing coat follows immedi- 
ately after the last coat of color has been put on and just 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 235 

previous to the safety coat of varnish used to decorate 
upon. 

Decorators use glazing colors also, and for the very 
same purpose as the carriage painters do : that of pro- 
ducing certain depth of tones which they could not ob- 
tain in any other way. 

Artists, likewise, are very familiar with the use of 
glazng colors and have recourse to it on many occa- 
sions. 

QUESTION ON GLAZING. 

152. Give a description of glazing. 

GRAINING. 

153. Graining is not a very old art and it is very 
doubtful if it was known at all two centuries ago. It is 
very true that artists had occasion to represent various 
woods upon pictures, but only in so far as the wood 
represented was necessary in the make up of their pic- 
tures — not as graining. Graining in a commercial way 
as it is known today was, therefore, unknown previous 
to the time related, and the artists who imitated woods 
upon the canvas had no idea as to how the grainers 
execute their work, nor of its methods, and such a 
knowledge would have been useless to them as a pic- 
ture would have been nofield where such could have 
been practical. 

Graining began to flourish about the commencement 
of the eighteenth century, and from that period until 



236 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

the middle of the nineteenth it increased greatly until 
the first class grainer became an mportant character in 
all communities where such existed, and their renown 
usually spread all around them. Such as had a wide 
acquaintance, and grainers were never slow in blowing 
their horns, were sent for quite long distances from 
their home towns. The British Isles — England, Scot- 
land and Ireland — seem to have produced the best and 
most renowned grainers. The Continental countries 
of Europe, especially the more southern, had the best 
of Great Britain in the production of good colorists and 
decorators but that country bore the palm in its grain- 
ing and the men who did it. The traditions which have 
been handed down and reached our times give accounts 
of the feats of the renowned ones who had made en- 
viable reputations during the first three quarters of the 
last century, which ends the flourishing period of that 
art. It very suddenly came to an end about the middle 
of the seventies with an occasional spasmodic revival, 
which did not last long, however. 

Without a doubt, this was due to the introduction of 
hardwoods in house construction. The supply of white 
pine finishing lumber giving away about that time, its 
cost began to rise up so high that it became as cheap or 
cheaper to use hardwoods for the purpose. As the 
hardwod is usually better than the imitation the skill of 
grainers became less and less needed, and with the re- 
sults that the great grainers of the past have few if any 
successors in the present generation. The discrimi- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 237 

nating customer of "ye olden times" was willing to 
pay a pretty good price for the graining of a double 
front door and vestibule or a library, dining-room, or 
even a parlor, hall, etc, ; that would beat some neighbor 
because good graining was then regarded as an art — ■ 
which it really was. It deserved good remuneration 
and it received it as the artist does — not at so much a 
day — but for the artistic effects produced, regardless of 
the time consumed. For no one but an artist could re- 
produce the woods in such natural imitations that it 
frequently fooled good judges of woods. 

The great diffusion of wealth since that time, too, 
has been another factor militating against graining be- 
cause it has enabled the great middle class to procure the 
genuine wood in place of the imitation. So high priced 
white pine finishing lumber plus the high prices hereto- 
fore paid for artistic graining made the imitation come 
higher than the natural wood, and the cheap, hurry-up 
kind of graining could not hold out sufficient induce- 
ments to tempt artists to devote their life work to do 
this cheaper class of work: there is little wonder that 
such were deterred from adopting it as a calling, and 
that the field is so bare of really good grainers. 

But a reaction is taking place now which promises 
to advance this branch of work again. It must not be 
expected that it will ever reach the high planes of the 
past, but the first class grainer today finds that room for 
his skill is. increasing. This, no doubt, is due to the 
fact that it is now the universal practice of finishing 



238 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

flats, etc., in varnished yellow pine and that that sort 
of a finish does not satisfy owners nor tenants after a 
few years, as they darken and become very dingy. The 
only remedy is painting them over every year, or grain- 
ing at a little greater expense at the start, but much 
cheaper in the end, as it need not be renewed yearly to 
be in good condition. 

There is, therefore, a good future in sght now for 
good grainers and this art is bound to grow into favor 
again. Possibly there may not be so much oak done as 
formerly, although that will still remain at the head of 
the list, but mahogany and maple for bed rooms, with 
the former for anywhere, as its place is suitable to any 
room is even now having quite a run, and while it is 
a bit dark, its richness of color lightens it up and that 
is overlooked on that account. 

It is not intended to give a lengthy account of "how 
to do graining," but the subject is of sufficient import- 
ance to warrant giving enough details as to the "how" 
to proceed to grain all the principal woods. 

THE TOOLS NEEDED. 

154. Oval or flat wall paint brushes to paint the 
ground coats with (see figs. 3, 4, 5). Some partly 
used oval varnish brushes or any other fair sized wall 
brushes, not too nearly worn out to be stiff or scrubby. 

Oval varnish brushes 4 to 8° (see fig. 15), some mot- 
tiers (see fig. 29), floggers (see fig. 28), fantail over 
grainers of various sizes (see fig. 27), bone-headed bad- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 239 

ger hair blenders (see fig, 33), with a good assortment 
of lettering camel's hair brushes for putting in veins; 
also a line of various sizes of sable artist's brushes for 
fine detail work. 

Sponges of various sizes and texture. 

Rubbers for wiping out. 

A set of steel graining combs. Fig. 44. 

A set of rubber graining combs. Fig. 45. 

A set of three rubber graining cylinders. Fig. 46, 

A set of rubber graining rollers or rubber spring. 

Fig. 47- 

Sectional grainers as shown below. 

A check roller for putting in weather checks in oil. 
Fig. 48. 

Some clean, soft cotton rags. The above are the 
essential tools. No doubt the professional grainer 
may have some pet tool or another of his own inven- 
tion which he may want to put into the list — but the best 
of graining can be done without any other. The piped 
overgrainer, etc., have been cut out of the list as un- 
necessary ; also some forms of mottlers. 

THE MATERIAL USED. 

155. For paintng the grounds suitable for the 
graining of the various woods upon the following list 
of pigments required is given : white lead is usually the 
principal pigment used for the base of all light-tinted 
grounds, and to that is added the colored pigments re- 
quired to produce the right tints. These are : Venetian 



240 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

red, Vandyke brown, raw and burnt umber, raw and 
burnt sienna and ivory, all to be finely ground in lin- 
seed oil. 

For thinning: raw and boiled linseed oil, japans and 
varnishes. 

For graining in oil the above named oil colors 
thinned properly can be used, or graining colors all pre- 
pared, ready for thinning, can be bought for almost any 
of the woods, and in light or dark tones of them. 

PREPARING THE GROUNDS. 

156. Break up some white lead ground in oil rather 
stif¥ in a little linseed oil, add to that the pigments 
which are named under each wood for the preparing of 
the right ground for them. These pigments, finely 
ground in oil, should be thinned much more than the 
lead, previous to their being mixed with it ; stir the mix- 
ture well to insure the bottom of it being equally as 
deep toned as the top. Do not add too much pigment 
all at once, but add them very slowly until the tone 
wanted is obtained. The ground color being ready, it 
should be thinned with raw linseed oil and turpentine 
sufficiently for application. A little drying japan can be 
used also to insure proper drying. If two coats are 
necessary, which is usually the case, give the first one 
with more oil than turpentine, and the last one with 
more turpentine than oil so as to have it semi-flat. 
For graining in water colors the grounds of all woods 
so to be grained should be a little flatter than for grain- 
ing in oil. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 241 

There is a great variation in the same kinds of natu- 
ral woods as to their color when finished and varnished 
so that a man can hardly err if he comes anywhere 
near to what it should be. No two grainers would se- 
lect from a line of tints the same shades of them for the 
graining of any given wood. Of course there is a limit 
— but it would be very hard to define it. In trying to 
match some natural wood in the same room, always 
make the ground for . graining about as light as the 
lightest parts of the wood shows, and when the top 
graining color is wiped out, it will show an average tone 
of that of the natural wood it is called upon to imitate. 
For practice one should have a few sample boards of 
various toned woods and by a proper selection of 
grounds and grainng colors, he will soon be able to 
judge at sight of the right shade to make for any sort 
of toned wood. 

Below is given a few simple directions for the selec- 
tion of colors needed in making grounds. The tone and 
depth of shade must be left to the judgment of the one 
who prepares them. 

LIGHT OAK. 

White lead for base. Raw sienna or French ochre. 

DARK OAK. 

White lead for base; raw sienna; raw umber, some 
little ivory black if required for as dark a shade as an- 
tique oak. 



242 Modem Painter's Cyclopedia 

GOLDEN OAK. 

White lead for base, raw sienna or ochre and a tritie 
of burnt sienna to redden it. 

WALNUT. 

White lead for base ; Vandyke brown" or burnt umber 
ochre ; Venitian red ; a trifle of ivory black. 

MAHOGANY. 

White lead for base ; ochre and Venitian red. 

CHERRY. 

White lead for base; raw sienna, tinged with burnt 
sienna. 

MAPLE. 

White lead; add just enough raw sienna to make it 
an ivory white. 

SATINWOOD. 

Requires a ground of about the same tone as stated 
for maple. 

ASH, CHESTNUT AND SYCAMORE. 

Requires the same kind of a ground as a medium oak 
does. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 243 

ROSEWOOD AND DARK MAHOGANY. 

Venetian red for base ; orange chromo, yellow ochre 
and burnt umber. It may be required to lighten it up 
with a little white lead. 

The above are about all the woods that are imitated ; 
yet it may be necessary sometmes to match something 
different than the ones named as in a room finished in 
hard pine, and where a closet or addition is made from 
white pine or cypress and one has to grain it to match 
the rest of the room. It will be an easy matter to make 
the right ground by following the rule given as to the 
lightest tone shown by the natural wood and the top 
graining color will be easily picked out. 

PAINTING THE GROUNDS. 

157. If the house is new, proceed to prime it with an 
all oil coat with a little white lead in it ; when dry putty 
it up and follow with a coat of color suitable for ground 
for the wood to be grained over it; this second coat 
should be middling heavy and well rubbed out. It 
should be thinned with half oil, half turpentine. When 
dry, sandpaper it and it will be ready for the third and 
last coat. This, like the preceding one, should be a 
suitable tone for the wood to be grained; it should be 
thinned with }i linseed oil and ^ turpentine. When 
dry it should present a smooth, uniform egg-shell gloss 
or just a trifle more gloss than that. 

Old woodwork that has been painted or varnished 
a reasonable number of coats, not to exceed seven or 



244 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

eight, will be safe enough to work upon, but, if, as 
is frequently the case, it has had from a dozen to twenty 
coats or more, as in some tenement houses one finds 
them, it is better to remove the old paint as there is 
great danger of blistering if painted, overgrained and 
varnished. When it is not necessary to remove the 
paint, two coats of ground color is enough to make a 
good solid surface to grain upon; otherwise it should 
be treated as stated for new work. 

GRAINING OAK. 

158. Oak is one of the most beautiful of our native 
woods and it has such a wealth of variations that it 
takes a pretty good head to remember them all. This 
is the reason why probably so many grainers, without 
exception, adopt some styles of it; which, while not a 
single one will be a duplicate of any other which they 
may have grained before, will have a certain family re- 
semblance with all of them because they cannot help 
working along certain grooves which are peculiar to 
themselves only, and which one who is at all familiar 
with their style of graining will recognize at once, and 
some will go so far as to infallibly give the name of 
half a dozen grainers who may have done as many 
rooms on the same jobs, if acquainted with them. It 
is the same as a handwriting expert would do and no 
more. The sign writer cannot hide his style of work 
either. So, if a good grainer is recognized in his work 
he need not be ashamed of it. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 245 

Oak is grained in water colors and in oil, or in com- 
binations of the two. Some grainers excel in the one oi 
the other, but rarely in both. In either ways of grain- 
ing it is divided up into Jieart growths and in quarter- 
sawed. In color it varies in the natural tones of it, 
and greatly so in the many dyes of it, whch are fads, and 
which the grainer can adapt his colors to — the coloring 
having nothing to do with the manner of graining it. 

Besides the heart growths and quarter-sawed oak, 
there are some root growths and the pollard oak both 
of which differ very much from the two first. There 
is so much variety and choice in these that there is only 
the embarassment of the choice from such. 

The beginner who has just started to learn graining 
should procure as many veneers as possible in all vari- 
eties of growths of it to familiarize himself with them 
by copying them for practice. The above advice holds 
good and applies with equal force to all other kinds of 
woods. There is nothing equal to it for the purpose of 
learning their variations, and a few dollars invested in 
such will be money put in a savings bank at a high rate 
of interest. 

OAK GRAINING IN OIL COLORS. 

159. Under Paragraph 155 the material required 
for graining oak in oil is given and it is stated there 
that the colors can be bought ready prepared for thin- 
ning, or that they could be prepared from colors in oil 
by the grainer if he so desired. 



246 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

The professional grainer who does nothing else can 
prepare his own megilp, as the old English grainers 
call the prepared graining color, to better advantage 
than one who probably may not be called upon to do 
a job of graining again for weeks; such can use the 
ready prepared graining colors in oil to better advan- 
tage than to make up the little he will use on his one 
job. As every manufacturer of colors mixes his own 
graining colors according to his own formulas, for best 
results in using them the grainer should become well 
acquainted with their several differences in working so 
as to know how to use them rightly, and when he has 
found the one which he can work to the best advantage 
with, he should stick to it. 

It requires some little time to prepare them for one's 
self. The colors should be pure, rich-toned and as 
transparent and fine ground as possible. Beeswax, 
which has previously been cut fine and soaked in tur- 
pentine for 12 hours, will dissolve it at a very low heat 
in that and can be incorporated readily with the thinner 
oil color, which has been warmed also. Take care not 
to put too much in it, about the value of a teaspoonful of 
the wax to a half a pint of the thinner color. The color 
itself should be thin, with ^ raw linseed oil plus a 
trifle of driers and ^ turpentine. Frequently the 
graining color has to be applied too thin to comb or 
wipe out well in order that the ground may not be coated 
over too dark; in order to remedy that, fine, bolted 
whiting, which has been well triturated with linseed oil 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 241 

should be added to the color, and then it may be ap- 
plied heavier with little danger of making it too dark 
as the whiting makes it more transparent. 

It is then ready to be rubbed in, the technical name 
used for the aplying of it upon the ground coat. This 
can be done by the grainer himself, but he will usually 
prefer to have a man known as the rubber-in to go 
ahead of him and leave him to do the graining. A half- 
worn, oval varnish brush makes a good tool for its ap- 
plication, but it can also be done with any other kind 
of brush of fairly good size that is not too new. The 
rubber-in should put it on equally all over, but not too 
heavy for it to run when combed or wiped out. Again, 
it must not be rubbed in too dry as it would not wipe 
out well. If the colors have been well tempered and 
thinned there will be no difficulty in so doing. The 
panels should be done first, then the inner stiles, then the 
upper, middle or lock rail, bottom rail, finishing a door 
with the long side stiles. 

The grainer will proceed to wipe out and to comb 
his panels to suit the style of graining he proposes to 
execute. Directions as to the "how to do that" would 
never teach one how to proceed. The beginner should 
at least see some grainer at it to form an idea of how it 
is done. Some use their thumb, covering it with a 
clean rag to do their w^iping out ; others again make an 
artificial thumb out of rubber, which they also cover 
with cloth, sliding that along as the work proceeds in 
order to always present a dry, clean surface to the 



248 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

ground about to be wiped; if this is not done the color 
will slide along in ridges which will give the graining 
an unnatural and forced look. 

For the cheaper graining the use of graining rollers 
has largely displaced hand work in graining oak either 
in oil or water color This, however, applies only to 
plain growths. Quarter-sawed oak will have to be 
done by hand as the rollers will not do this right — at 
best where they are used much of it will have to be 
finished by hand. These rubber rollers will do the 
graining wonderfully quick and a great many variations 
of heart growths can be made with them when they are 
properly understood and worked. 

i6i. The advice given above as to the rubbing-in of 
colors and of graining them by wiping or with graining 
rollers is applicable to all kinds of graining in oil where 
the graining is done by wiping out; therefore it will 
not be necessary to repeat it over again under each 
wood. Should the reader forget let him turn back and 
read these directions over again. 

162. Graining oak in water colors is very much 
different than the preceding. For the graining colors 
one should procure them either dry, or, which is prefer- 
able on account of their greater firmness, ground in dis- 
temper or water. They are found for sale put up in 
small glass jars with a tin top cover at all supply stores. 
The color should be taken out of the jar, put into a 
clean tin can and thinned with beer to a proper working 
consistency, and they should be frequently stirred up 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 249 

while being used as they settle much faster than colors 
in oil do. If beer is not handy a very good binder for 
them can be made by using % vinegar and }i water 
with a little brown sugar dissolved in it, or a weak glue 
size; in short, most anything which has a gelatinous, 
sweetish tack when dissolved. 

To grain heart oak growth for the better kinds of 
graining it should be done by hand. Run the panels 
over with the check roller, using some dark color — 
either raw or burnt umber or ivory pink, according to 
the color of the oak to be grained ; then proceed to pencil 
in the veining with a camel's hair lettering brush of 
suitable size, taking care to use the badger hair blender 
freely while the color is still wet or else it will be too 
late and the unblended veins would be harsh looking. 
The blender should always be used outwards from the 
growth lines — never blended inward. Only run a few 
lines, therefore, before blending them, and proceed 
thus until all the panels have been done. The rails 
and stiles can be done plainly combed or veined with a 
fantail overgrainer, taking a dry one and using it over 
the lines to split them while wet, instead of a blender. 
The water color can be sponged on and the rubber 
combs used on it while wet. 

The rubber graining rollers can be used as easily or 
even better over water colors than over oil. The panels 
should be sponged over with the color the same as the 
stiles and rails and the rollers used while wet. A little 
practice will soon enable the operator to turn out neat 
work with them. 



250 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

For quarter-sawed oak, sponge the color over the 
panels, comb and proceed to wipe out the champs or 
flakes with a chamois skin doubled over the thumbs 
or an artificial rubber thumb. This can be as well or 
better done after the color has set; it will be nec- 
essary, however, to wet the chamois skin and to go over 
with that the flakes which will need finishing with a 
dampened rag afterward. A very nice effect is to touch 
up a few with the graining color and to put in a few 
dark flakes with a camel's hair brush which make a 
pleasing variation. 

The better way is to grain quarter-sawed oak in oil, 
however, and when dry to overgrain it with water 
colors, putting in the dark flakings where wanted and 
in burled and knotty growths, to line up gnarled veil- 
ings and emphasize knots. 

Some of the finest and most natural-looking grain- 
ing of quartered oak can be done by combining oil and 
water color work. 

When dry both oil and distemper graining of oak 
can be improved by judiciously shading the tone of 
colors used, but it must not be overdone as then it will 
appear ridiculous. 

163. Oak root and pollard oak graining may as well 
be bracketed together as to the graining for both are 
gnarly growths and are best done in water colors. Oak 
root resembles a hugh sponge full of little round open- 
ings or circles with a system of fine veins intermingling 
among them, some parts being very close together; in 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 251 

others again being separated from each other by a few 
inches of vein veinings. Pollard oak is very similar, 
the unevenness of the surface being caused by cutting 
over the branches of the trees at the head for a number 
of years until an abnormal growth of gnarled projec- 
tions are the result; these sawed into veneer produce 
what is known as pollard oak. The knots in pollard 
oak are larger than in the roots where really there are 
no knots but the appearance of circular openings re- 
sembling them where the circling veining has been cut 
through by the saw. The ground for oak root or pol- 
lardized oak is best made in several shades or tones of 
the ground color as this will greatly help the graining; 
it should be put in in clumps according to the graining 
which is to go over it. The grainer who is to do the 
work should make his own grounds to suit what he has 
laid out in his mind's eye. The graining is done with a 
sponge and blended as the work proceeds; most of it 
can be characterized with the sponge, to be after- 
wards emphasized with the camel's hair brush and fan- 
tailed overgrainers. The colors used should be very 
near, or at least in touch with that used on the stiles 
and rails, otherwise if there is too much contrast the 
work will appear incongruous. 

All water color graining should be oiled soon after 
the completion of the graining as that will preserve it 
against harm, for after oiling it will be permanently 
fixed — becoming, in fact, oil graining. 

164. What has been said under oak graining re- 



£52. Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

garding the use of water colors and their appHcation 
with a sponge and camel's hair pencils should be re- 
membered as all other woods done in distemper are 
treated with them in the same manner, barring the dif- 
ferences between them in color and form of veining. 
This difference the grainer can readily adapt his colors 
to, and the style of his graining to suit the difference of 
forms. Where there is a real difference in the manner 
of using them, this will be noted under each wood and 
the same explained. 

WALNUT. 

165. At one time there were few double front doors 
and vestibules in our Eastern seaboard cities which were 
not grained in imitation of walnut — usually with burled 
walnut panels and the rest in plain black walnut with, 
possibly, the lock rail veined. Halls, libraries and 
sometimes parlors were also grained in that wood, and 
then all at once it disappeared. The introduction of 
hardwood doors did it, and where an imitation in grain- 
ing was substituted it became golden or some other kind 
of oak. Walnut, being such a dark wood, is not suited 
to all places as its somber aspect is not conducive to 
cheerfullness. The Italian or English walnut is not 
quite so dark as our American black walnut and the 
burled markings are so pretty that more of it should be 
done than is the case today. 

166. Walnut is usually imitated in water colors or 
in a combination of water colors and oil. For either 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 253 

methods it should be stippled first. This is best done 
by applying some walnut distemper color (either Van- 
dyke brown or burnt umber), with a brush or sponge, 
and by beating it upward with the flogger (see fig. 28). 
This divides the color into little short-like pores, which 
that wood is filled with in all its growths but the burled 
and with more prominence in the American than in the 
Italian. The burled walnut is done in the same manner 
as related for the graining of oak root and pollard oak, 
the arrangement being somewhat different, however, 
and the grainer must know hov\' to bring out the details 
so as to make the imitation look natural. 

CHERRY. 

167. There is quite a variation in the coloring of 
this wood and much more in the colors it is grained in 
than in the natural wood itself. Some people are not 
satisfied with its rather plain and non-assuming charac- 
ter, and are not satisfied with anything short of the 
color of its fruit ! This is really ridiculous, but they will 
tell you : "Why, no more so than masquerading oak 
with a green or blue stain," and how can one blame them 
when that is tolerated ? The natural cherry wood has a 
very plain growth with quite a few pores showing 
through, which should be stippled in with a color com- 
posed of raw sienna, burnt sienna and burnt umber, but 
which should not be made nearly as strong colored as in 
walnut as they show very much more subdued and 
lighter. The veining is not very prominent either, the 



254 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

veins being separated far apart, but are fine-lined, for 
all such woods it is better to mark out the veinings with 
a pencil of the right color, which, in this instance, is 
one made of raw sienna and burnt sienna. These pen- 
cils can be bought at most of the supply stores and are 
catalogued in artist's supply houses. There are some 
fifteen or twenty different tints made of them. They 
are encased in wood ; the wood being colored with the 
same color as that inside of them it is easy to pick out 
the right shade at sight. 

' MAPLE. 

1 68. Maple is one of our most beautiful woods and 
well deserves the use made of it in house construQ^ion, 
especially for the wood work of bedrooms, for which it 
is so well fitted. The veining in plain maple is very thin 
and simple and it owes its chief beauty to its mottlings. 
Its pores are very small and not sufficiently prominent 
as to require them to be taken into consideration in 
making an imitation of that wood. The veining, as 
stated for cherry, is fine-lined and of but little promi- 
nence, and is made best with a proper colored pencil or 
with an artist's brush and raw sienna in distemper. The 
ground should be nearly white. 

Curled maple is very richly marked with markings 
called mottlings, of a rich darker color than the rest 
of the wood and is done by using the mottler and water 
colors and blending them with the badger hair blender. 
It can be imitated in oil but will not look so rich. Bird's 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 255 

eye n.aple is the richest of all, and it, too, is best imi' 
tated in water colors. Raw sienna darkened just a trifle 
with raw umber to kill its too great yellowness is best 
for the graining. The mottlings having been put in, 
it is the practice of some to dip the end of their fingers 
in the graining color and to put in the eyes by pecking 
their fingers against the ground. The above is easy 
but is not nearly as good by long odds as the following : 
Take a fine-pointed red sable artist's brush and put 
them in — not by dabbing them in solid but by making 
small circles with it for the natural bird's eye has usually 
an open center. After these have been put in their 
proper places, and this is very important and nothing 
but a close study of the natural wood will teach one 
where they really belong, proceed to put in the veining 
with a proper colored pencil as stated for plain maple 
when it will be ready for varnishing. Bird's eye or 
mottled maple might be imitated in oil colors but it 
takes much more time and is more difficult as well — 
and when finished would not look as well. 

ASH. 

169. Ash is grained in much the same way as oak 
heart growth. The color of the ground is very much 
the same. The growth is more regular and somewhat 
coarser than that of oak. It is easily imitated with the 
rubber graining rollers. It can be grained in both oil and 
water colors — the first by wiping out and the latter by 
penciling on the veining. The variety of it known as 



256 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

"Hungarian Asli" has a very peculiar growth which 
looks as if some one had blowed in the lower part of 
the log and the veining had been swelled out in circles 
more or less oblong in form. This wood is the most 
showy of the family and like the plain heart growth is 
best imitated in water colors. 

SYCAMORE. 

17.0. There is but little of this wood imitated by 
graining. Why that is so is hard to tell. There are in- 
dications that more of it will be done in the future than 
in the past as sycamore lumber is being used more now 
in house finishing than formerly, and justly so, for it 
has fine and peculiar markings all its own. These mot- 
tlings are small and irregular all over the growth. 

It is easily imitated in water colors with a sponge and 
blender. The ground coat should be about the same as 
that of dark oak, just a trifle lighter. The graining 
colors are raw sienna and raw umber. It can be easily 
imitated with the rubber graining rollers intended for 
quarter-sawed oak, rolled over quickly over water colors 
and well blended, and instead of that name they should 
be called "sycamore rollers," as they are better fitted 
for that than for the other. 

MAHOGANY. 

171. Mahogany is one of the richest of woods and 
it well deserves the great popularity it now enjoys for 
both furniture and house finishing. It is the richest 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 257 

toned wood of them all and while rich it is not loud; 
even that with the richest of marking is never gaudy or 
suggestive of vulgarity. In shades and tones it runs 
from a yellowish buff with darker brown mottlings to 
a rich burnt sienna red with dark brown and some 
nearly black featherings of great beauty. A wood hav- 
ing such a range of color can have no set tint for a 
ground color and as to the tint that the ground should 
have will depend entirely upon the character of the sort 
of mahogany that is wanted. If a yellow-toned ma- 
hogany is desired the ground will have to be made more 
yellow and lighter toned than for aged mahogany, 
which will require a deeper reddish-toned ground. 
While mahogany can be imitated in oil graining, it is 
much easier and better done in water colors. 

The character of the wood should be sponged in and 
well blended more strongly than for woods of fine vein- 
ing; this will feather out the edges in both directions. 
When blended and dry, the details, if any are desired, 
can be added with either a camel's hair pencil or a fan 
tail overgrainer, and well blended, too. When dry it 
should be coated over with linseed oil and turpentine. 

ROSEWOOD. 

172. Rosewood is a very dark wood and for that 
reason is seldom used in such large a quantity as for in- 
stance a whole room would demand. It is one of the 
most expensive of the woods. Its use is chiefly con- 
fined to piano cases and small artistic objects, and in 



258 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

furniture. As its darkness and high cost prevents its 
being used largely its graining, too, is very limited for 
the first reason given — too dark. Many small objects 
are grained in imitation of it, however, which is usually 
done in factories where they are made. The ground 
for it is about the same as that of dark mahogany, only 
more red. The graining is best done in water colors. 
Drop black applied with a sponge in erratic heavy lines 
to be blended slightly but not feathered as in mahogany, 
then followed with a fantail overgrainer filled with the 
same color ; put in the fine lines which nearly cover the 
whole wood, leaving but little here and there of the 
ground to show through. It is very easily imitated 
when one has a good conception of its character in 
mind; but it is also easily spoiled if its average mark- 
ings are misrepresented. The greatest trouble with the 
novice is that he tries to put in too many details, and 
these in the natural wood never force themselves upon 
the attention, but they have to be closely looked for to 
distinguish them. 

QUESTIONS ON GRAINING. 

153. What is said regarding graining? 

154. What are the tools required? 

155. What material is used? 

156. What is said about preparing the ground? 

157. How many coats of ground color should new 
and old wood receive? 

158. What is said in a general way about oak 
graining ? 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 259 

159. How are graining colors mixed for graining 
oak in oil ? 

160. How is the graining color in oil rubbed in and 
how is the graining done ? 

161. Is what is related in Paragraphs 159 and 160 
applicable to other woods as well? 

162. How is the graining color in distemper for 
oak prepared and how is the work done ? 

163. How is oak root and pollard oak grained? 

164. Is what has been related of the water color 
graining of oak applicable to other woods ? 

165. What is said of walnut graining in general? 

166. How is walnut grained? 

167. How is cherry grained? 

168. How is maple grained? 

169. How is ash grained? 

170. How is sycamore grained? 

171. How is mahogany grained? 

172. How is rosewood grained? 

HOUSE PAINTING. 

173. House painting is of two very different kinds 
— exterior and interior. 

Both exterior and interior of buildings are painted 
tor a twofold purpose : first, as a protective covering to 
I he material used in house construction, and secondly, 
as a means of beautifying its surface. 

Under the heading of "Exterior Painting" (see 
Paragraphs 108 to 120), the reader will find a full 



260 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

explanation as to the best manner of treating all the 
various material used in the construction of houses, 
therefore it would be useless to repeat the same here. 

174. The painting of interiors has also been fully 
reviewed in all the several methods used in doing the 
same, such as in water colors or distemper under the 
heading of "Calcimining" (see Paragraphs 31 to 38), 
also the same under the heading of "'Fresco Painting" 
(see Paragraphs 134 to 142), and in oil under the 
heading of "Flatting" (see Paragraphs 130 to 133), 
also under the heading of "Enameling" (see Para- 
graphs 121 to 129), besides such as is finished in 
"Graining" (see Paragraphs 153 to 172) and "Mar- 
bling" (see Paragraphs 173 to 192). The above cover- 
ing all the various ways used in finishing up interiors 
will suffice without repeating it and the reader can 
readily find what he is looking for under the several 
headings mentioned. 

QUESTIONS ON HOUSE PAINTING. 

173. What is said of exterior painting? 

174. What is said of interior painting? 

MARBLING. 

175. The imitation of marbles and other variegated 
stones is a very attractive and interesting section of the 
painter's trade — one almost feels like saying art; for to 
produce a good imitation of them is artistic. To be 
able, then, to imitate them the student should have a 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 261 

good conception of it formed in his mind ready to be 
transferred by his good right hand by the proper hand- 
ling of the tools that will reproduce what his head has 
conceived upon the surface he desires to ornament. 
Should he spend a whole week in going about from 
building to building, examining good natural specimens 
of marble in the great office vestibules, corridors, etc., 
or in public buildings, churches, in any of our larger 
cities, it would be time well spent with him as this 
would do more to fasten up in his mind a good under- 
standing of their forms and the great variations of these 
in the several marbles which are so profusely used at the 
present time. Reading about them will not learn him 
anything, and he might read till he was gray headed be- 
fore he could have as clear an understanding of them 
as a good square look would give him — at the marble 
itself. 

Nor need this study be commenced over for every 
kind of marble he hears about, nor will he need to 
make a study specially for each kind of marble as the 
grainer has to do to understand the peculiarities of each 
kind of wood, for all marbles, while each has some pe- 
culiarity too, can be in reality divided into two general 
groups : Fissured marble and the other — conglomerate 
marble. 

All the fissure marbles have a great family resemb- 
lance ; the main difference being in the frequency of oc- 
currence and the fineness of the fissures, the more or 
less of their transparency, and mostly in the coloring 



262 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

itself. There are a great many names given to certain 
colored marbles, yet as the chief difference lays in the 
colors used in executing them, this need not worry the 
marbler very much. 

During the week which he has been advised to spend 
in examination of various specimens of marbles he will 
have come to a seemingly contradicting opinion "that 
they are all alike" and "that it is impossible to find two 
pieces of marble a foot square that are exactly alike," 
that is in the fissured marbles, for the solidly colored 
ones need not be considered, so far as being counted in 
— they are not imitated. This seeming contradiction — 
as to their being all alike and yet as being all different — 
lies in that when one color of fissured marbles has been 
well studied and understood, all the others, barring the 
color, will be understood also and their minor differ- 
ences can be readily taken care of. Their variations are 
infinite, however, so that the statement that no two 
pieces are alike is true also. 

1 76. To make a good imitation of marbles a person 
needs to have an intimate knowledge of colors and of 
the "how to handle them" by blending them properly 
so as to make them appear transparent if he wants them 
so, or solid if he desires it. He will find numerous speci- 
mens of markings and veinings in the natural marble 
that he should not try to imitate because if he did he 
would be laughed at for his pains. Nature misses it 
at times and produces some unnatural looking specimen 
but the marbleizer is not supposed to reproduce them. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 263 

It is the same in the various woods ; only those of pleas- 
ing forms are copied and the abnormal should be 
shunned as no one wants them. The pleasing forms of 
marbles are so numerous that if a person was to imitate 
them daily for a lifetime it is doubtful if he would 
reproduce any former design ; yet, as in graining, every 
person will adopt certain forms and peculiarities and 
unconsciously he will put on some of this individuality 
into his work and these "personal marks" will be recog- 
nized by other painters who are familiar with his pe- 
culiarities, and a look will suffice them to enable them 
to name the person who did the job. 

176. The tools needed for marbling are few. Some 
brushes to lay colors with ; these may be of any shape, 
but as only rather small surfaces are laid over with 
colors at one time, they should not be too large. Some 
few flat and round fresco bristle liners; some camel's 
hair pointed lettering brushes and a few artists' brushes 
to put in fine lines and outlining with. Some bristle 
blenders and some badger hair blenders ; some feathers 
to put in fine veins with. Sponges for water colored 
work and some soft, clean cotton rags. The material 
used for marbling in oil is : white lead, which is usually 
the base or principal color in the foundation of all the 
lighter tints of marble, and for coloring it or for using 
singly oir in connection with other colored pigments; 
raw and burnt sienna; raw and burnt umber, Oxford 
and French ochre; Indian red, Prussian blue, ivory 
black, etc. As marbles can be found in nearly all colors, 



264 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

it is hard to say where the naming of the list of colors 
used should stop as nea/rly all of them can be put to 
use. 

For marbling in water colors all the same colors, dry 
or ground in distemper, can be used with the exception 
of white lead for which whiting must be substituted. 

By long odds the better way of imitating marbles is 
with oil colors — and the easiest, too. The blending of 
the colors in distemper is very much more difficult to 
do properly, and usually it is used only upon the very 
cheapest of wall work that any of it is ever attempted.' 
A person cannot judge rightly of the value of the 
colors used as they dry so much lighter than when first 
put on. It requires quite an expert to imitate marbles 
properly in distemper. Some few do obtain very good 
results in work done in that way, but mostly in scenic 
painting, and their work while pleasing at a distance 
will not usually bear a very close inspection. 

DOVE MARBLE. 

178. The ground for dove marble should be a warm 
gray composed of white lead, lampblack and a trifle of 
red to warm it up. When dry go over it with a trans- 
parent gray made of zinc white, black and whiting to 
give it transparency and further spreading; put in the 
darker gray tones in places where desired ; then blend 
them in with a bristle blender. Then run in the vein- 
ing in white, which blend with the badger blender to 
make them transparent and look as if disappearing be- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 265 

low the surface. Then finish up by putting in the high 
lights on the veining with white. This makes them ap- 
pear as if they had continued from below to the top of 
the surface through the transparent ground. The 
painter will find it one of the easiest to imitate. The 
broader veins or layers, as some call them, can be put 
in with the bristle fresco liners and the finer with artists' 
brushes, or still better with feathers dipped into the 
color ; with the feather can also be applied the network 
veining in clumps where they usually center and divide 
out from. It is very quickly done and the quicker the 
better the work will look as hesitation always causes 
veining to be harsh. Far very good work it is better to 
accentuate details with a camel's hair artist's brush to 
put in a trifle of dark shading upon spots on one side 
and to lighten up on one side the lighter shades. This 
helps to produce a more transparent effect to the mar- 
bling. 

As many of the above details are applicable to the 
imitation of all kinds of marbles it will not be necessary 
to repeat them again, so the reader should bear them in 
mind. 

BLACK AND GOLD. 

179. The ground for this marble is black and the 
veining is gold colored as the name indicates. Some 
large veins of straggling character run in zigzag fashion 
in all directions; these are made of yellow ochre, raw 
umber and Venetian red and are to be blended in with 



266 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

the black and gold veining. After the color has set a 
bit, the high light gold veining is put in again but not 
over the first ones which were blended and no attention 
should be paid to them ; they appear as if they were be- 
low the ground through the transparency of the sur- 
face. Only a portion of this last veining must remain 
as "high lights," the rest must be carefully blended to 
make them look as if they were gradually disappearing 
and give still greater transparency to the job. 

EGYPTIAN GREEN MARBLE. 

1 80. The ground for this marble is an invisible 
green made of black and yellow. When the ground is 
dry, paint over the whole surface with a green which is 
suitable, putting in the black masses here and there and 
with a feather putting in some of the green in veins 
through these which should be blended. When dry run 
over the work with blocks of black to give it its proper 
character. The white masses should now be put in and 
one side of them should be made sharp by touching 
them up with a camel's hair pencil. 

When stones are cut and polished they are frequently 
so transparent that we seem to look beneath the sur- 
face, and crystallized masses may be observed distinct 
from the substance which forms the matrix. These 
crystalline bodies may present their sides or may be cut 
angularly, thus giving a singular variety of form and 
great transparence to the mass. This is where the 
painter can display his skill by imitating it. The novice 



Modern Painter*s Cyclopedia 267 

will, no doubt, find it difficult at first but perseverance 
will reward him with success. 

VERD ANTIQUE. 

i8i. Black is the ground for verd antique marble. 
Mix in a small can some Prussian blue and yellow ochre 
so as to form a brownish green. Then, with feathers, 
put in the colors — blue and yellow — which blend with 
a bristle brush, afterwards touching up the same with 
blue and yellow by means of a camel's hair pencil. 

This marble is of the same general character as the 
Egyptian, its chief distinguishing features being that it 
is more blotchy. 

SERPENTINE MARBLE. 

182. This marble resembles the above, being some- 
what more veiny and less blotched. There is also less 
conglomeration showing through it. The green is also 
lighter toned but otherwise treat it as described for the 
others. 

BROCATELLO. 

183. The ground for brocatello is a light, warm 
yellow of the same tone as that commonly used for 
sienna marble and is formed of ochre and white lead. 
Take raw and burnt sienna and add enough whiting 
to make them spread out very transparent and glaze 
over the job with it; when this color has set, sprinkle 
it over with turpentine, using a sash tool for this pur- 



268 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

pose. It will cause the color to flow and the yellow 
ground to show through. Then shade the larger blots 
with a light yellow ochre to show the angular fragments 
and to give it greater depth. A suitable color made 
of Prussian blue and vermillion is then prepared, and 
with a pencil it is used to put in veins around the an- 
gular parts, but care should be taken not to carry the 
dark lines through the blots. 

ITALIAN PINK MARBLE. 

184. This marble is somewhat of the same general 
character as that described under sienna marble, and in 
reality it is only a variation of that. The chief distinc- 
tion consists in its being more rosy in tone and of a less 
yellowish red. The painter can follow directions given 
below, changing the colors to suit this. 

SIENNA MARBLE. 

185, This marble has a great variety of character 
and is also known under a variety of names in many 
places. The tendency now seems to be the placing of 
all marbles of that character together under the name 
of sienna and to designate the color of it wanted. One 
slab will have a dark hue, tending to an umber tone, and 
another from the same quarry will be a bright yellow. 
When it is imitated the ground is made a light yellow. 
After the ground is dry the work should be gone over 
with a transparent yellow made so by the addition of 
whiting. While the color is still wet the character may 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 269 

be formed with a No. 2 black drawing crayon and the 
same blended with the color with a badger hair blender. 
The painter will now display his taste by choosing the 
proper shades and the placing of his colors which are 
raw and burnt sienna ; raw and burnt umber and Vene- 
tian red with which he will fill up the spaces left open by 
his crayon, when the several colors should be blended 
together. When this is dry the shades should be put in 
with a darker color; then the work should be thinly 
glazed here and there and well blended with a badger 
blender. 

Some painters in finishing sienna spot it with pure 
white. The novice should study this marble well, as it 
is one which is suited to many situations and which is 
nearly always pleasing to look at. 

WHITE VEINED MARBLE. 

186. This is one of the commonest of the marbles, 
and the painter has frequent occasion to imitate it, but 
it does not usually require the services of an expert to 
distinguish between the imitation and the real article. 
As simple as it looks, it is the hardest marble to imitate 
of the whole list of them. The man who can fool any- 
one into believing that his imitation is genuine marble 
can turn out to perfection any of the colored marbles. 

The ground for this marble is a pure white. When 
it has been applied and is dry ; mix white lead and tur- 
pentine, adding some whiting to make it more transpar- 
ent and with that paint over the work. While the colof 



270 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

is wet, form the veins with a black crayon and with a 
bristle blender soften the veins with the ground. Sim- 
ple as it is, it is not an easy thing to make it look natural. 

FLORENTINE MARBLE. 

187. The ground for this marble is white lead, 
tinted up to suit with Indian red or Tuscan red and 
black to produce a rather light neutral red tint. Put in 
the veining with burnt umber and burnt sienna, a few of 
each, running in all directions without any show of reg- 
ularity. This veining must be done while the ground is 
wet. Sometimes these veins run in clumps and seem to 
break forth, leaving patches here and there nearly free 
of any veinings, and then suddenly to make a network 
of them as intricate as those upon the rind of a nutmeg 
melon. 

AGATE. 

188. Agate is a conglomerate and really not prop- 
erly a marble, partaking more of the nature of quartz 
than it does of lime formation. As it is sometimes imi- 
tated it is well to place it with the other stone imitations, 
along with jasper, porphyry and other forms of granitic 
formation which the skill of the painter is frequently 
called upon to imitate. The ground for agate is made 
of white lead, and the character of the work is put in 
with a feather, which has been dipped in a transparent 
crimson lake color and blended. When dry it should be 
run over with the crimson lake in spots and between 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 271 

these put in other spots with a medium tone of green 
made from Prussian blue and yellow ochre, and when 
the work begins to set, it should be sprinkled with tur- 
pentine, whch will cause the three colors to run in all 
directions and afterward they should be touched up in 
places here and there with some of each of the colors 
with a camel's hair pencil. 

RED PORPHYRY. 

189. Red porphyry is of granite formation; it is of 
a dark redidsh tone and the ground should be made 
from Vermillion and black. Sprinkle the ground with 
Vermillion, dulled with a little white lead, taking care 
that it does not run on the ground but present each spot 
separately and distinctively. This done, the work should 
be sprinkled in the same way but with a still lighter 
shade of red. 

SWEDISH PORPHYRY. 

190. The ground for Swedish porphyry Is a grayish 
stone color, formed of white lead, black and raw umber. 
The work should be sprinkled in shades of gray in a 
similar way to that stated for red porphyry. 

SWISS PORPHYRY. 

191. This is considered the most valuable on the 
list. The ground is black ; sprinkle it with two shades 
of color made from black and red, but the sprinkling 
should be done more liberally than in the two former 



272 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

ones, so that they may run into each other. Afterward 
sprinkle a Htle white over the whole work; the white 
spots should be small. 

JASPER. 

192. Is a fancy stone which is seldom used in large 
masses except by imitation. The ground may be made 
in color that is suitable to the style or color of jasper to 
be imitated or to the situation, but usually it is a gray or 
a yellowish stone color. The ground being dry, paint 
over a certain portion of the work with an opaque color,, 
made of burnt sienna and a little Indian red. In about 
half an hour it will be set and then it should be sprinkled 
with turpentine and whiting; a clean brush being used 
for the purpose, and wherever the moisture falls large 
spots will be formed. Then the character must be laid 
out. This is done with a yellowish grey color by intro- 
ducing it among the red masses. The work must be 
then heightened with a pure white color. The peculiar 
ribbon structure or waving line must be afterward in- 
troduced, which is done with the feather of a quill. It 
has the effect of uniting the red and the other colors. 
This is done with pure white lead thinned with turpen- 
tine, a little inside varnish being added to give it bind- 
ing. The work is afterward finished in with a camel's 
lair pencil in light touches. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 273 

GRANITES OF ALL KINDS. 

193. Granites of any color can readily be imitated. 
Proceed as stated under porphyry. Prepare the ground 
of the predominating color of the granite and then 
sprinkle on the remaining colors so as to spot large or 
small, according as it is wished. 

QUESTIONS ON MARBLING. 

175. What is said of marbling in a general way? 

176. What should a person be required to know to 
become a marbler ? 

177. What tools and material are needed? 

178. How is dove marble imitated ? 

179. How is black and gold marble imitated? 

180. How is Egyptian green marble imitated? 

181. How is verd antique marble imitated? 

182. How is serpentine marble imitated? 

183. How is Brocatello marble imitated? 

184. How is Italian pink marble imitated? 

185. How is sienna marble imitated? 

186. How is white veined marble imitated? 

187. How is Florentine marble imitated? 

188. How is agate imitated ? 

189. How is red porphyry imitated? 

190. How is Swedish porphyry imitated? 

191. How is Swiss porphyry imitated? 

192. How is jasper imitated? 

193. How are granites imitated ? 



274 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

OILS AND DRYERS. 

194. There are several different kinds of oils, each 
having peculiar properties belonging in general to their 
class besides each one of the class having some distin- 
guishing traits belonging to them only and not to the 
others. All classes of oils are useful to man for some 
purpose or another. For the painter's use, however, 
there are only two kinds which are of interest to him 
as related to their business and employed by him in his 
work, to wit: The "fixed oils" and the "volatile oils." 

THE FIXED OILS. 

195. The fixed oils have the property of solidifying 
during the process of their drying into a rubber-like 
gum, which is waterpoof. This property is invaluable 
to the painting of exteriors, as without such a quality in 
the liquid used in the application of paint, it would be 
impossible to hold the pigment of the paint upon it and 
its stay there would be limited to dry weather, as rains, 
moisture, hail and beating storms would soon make 
short work of it and wash it off and the pigment having 
nothing but its own adhesiveness to hold it on, would 
soon all be at the bottom of the house, leaving the build- 
ing in no better condition, if as good, as it was before 
the painting was done. There are no liquids or sub- 
stances that will render liquids waterproof, known at 
the present time, with which pigments could be mixed 
and applied over surfaces with as vehicles of them which 
will render the hard service which is demanded of them 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 275 

and which will turn itself into a waterproof covering 
but — the iixed oils. 

It is not the purpose of entering into any great details 
in reviewing the fixed oils, and some of them will not 
even be mentioned, as they are either too scarce or ex- 
pensive to be thought of for use in painting, All fixed 
oils have the same general properties characteristic of 
their class in a greater or lesser degree — which is, that 
they absorb oxygen from the atmosphere and that dur- 
ing this absorption they become solidified into a rubber- 
like waterproof gum; but besides this general charac- 
terizing property of the class which belongs to this 
group only, they have each of them their own. 

All fixed oils gain in weight from the oxygen which 
they have absorbed, yet the gain is nearly, but not quite, 
offset by the evaporation of the moisture contained in 
them and the loss of some certain volatile ethers which 
are evolved during the wonderful process of their dry- 
ing. 

The drying of the fixed oils is a very interesting study 
for those among the painters who have a love for knowl- 
edge, and to such the study of such works as "Chev- 
reuil's" on the drying of oils, will well repay them for 
the trouble. A good knowledge of the material they 
use will greatly help them to understand the why and 
wherefore of things and no one can know too much 
about his own business or any of the material used to 
carry it on. 



276 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

LINSEED OIL. 

196. Of all the drying fixed oils, no others pos- 
sess as many of the qualities that are desirable in them 
for the purpose of a paint vehicle and as a preservative 
of surfaces nor to as high a degree of perfection as Lin- 
seed oil does. 

Besides that it is so much superior to the others in 
quality, it is far cheaper than the next one to it in cheap- 
ness. All things being equal, that of itself would suf- 
fice to make it the most popular, so that when the fact is 
taken in consideration that its qualities are superior to 
the others in all but a few immaterial points for outside 
painting at least, and for interior painting excepting in 
a very few instances, such as white enameling, etc., it is 
no wonder that it holds first place and stands far above 
them all. 

It was stated in the preceding few lines that linseed 
oil was the cheapest of all the fixed oils and so it is. 
Linseed is a Frenchified word for flaxseed, which it is, 
and it is known under that name all through its growth. 
The change to linseed only occurring after the oil has 
been expressed from it upon the same principle that a 
calf becomes veal after its death. Flax is one of the 
most useful of all the plants to the human family. When 
it is wanted for its fiber, however, it is grown in a dif- 
ferent manner. Then it is sown much more closely to- 
gether, which prevents it from going to seed properly, 
and to branch out, when it is pulled and from such no 
seed is obtained. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 277 

For seed it is sown farther apart, which gives each 
plant a chance to spread and make a good head for 
seeds and to become a perfect plant fitted to ripen its 
seeds properly. This makes its fiber much coarser and 
it unfits it for all the finer uses made of that raised 
specially for its fiber, for the weaving of linen cloth, etc. 
The coarse linen tow which is now extracted from the 
flax straw is of but little commercial value. 

To make good oil — that is to say, to make the very 
best possible out of it, the flax should not be cut until it 
has commenced to ripen its seeds and such is the way 
that it is harvested in India, where labor only costs a 
few cents per day. In that far-off country the flax is 
pulled by hand and all the manipulations are hand work. 
The seed consequently is very plump and rich in oil, the 
juices having been perfectly elaborated by the natural 
process of ripening. This seed from India produces an 
oil that is highly prized by varnish makers and all 
others who must have linseed oil at its best and as good 
as can be made. It is for this reason that Calcutta seed 
linseed oil is so highly esteemed and that these varnish 
men, who are the best judges of linseed oil in the world, 
are willing to pay more for it than the price asked for 
the home grown linseed oil. 

But the system of harvesting flaxseed in India cannot 
be practiced here in the United States nor in the South 
American countries where it is also raised, not even in 
Russia, where a good quantity of flaxseed is grown. 
Such slow processes would raise the price of the seed 



278 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

away beyond the limit. With the large acreage which 
the American farmer devotes to it, the harvesting of 
flaxseed would be a hard problem to solve, in fact, it is 
one that bothers them now under the rapid methods 
they employ, and what would it be, if they were to un- 
dertake the slow ways of India ? In America the flax is 
cut by machinery, in the same manner as wheat — but if 
the farmers waited until the seed had begun to ripen to 
cut "it, much of it would shell out and be scattered over 
the field and be wasted from the violent shaking it re- 
ceives when struck by the harvesting machine; so to 
prevent this loss, it is cut while the seed is in the dough 
as it is called, just previous to its hardening. There can 
be no question but that it becomes solid and that it 
ripens after the cutting, but it is not so good for it as it 
does not receive the juices which it would have drawn 
from mother earth during the finishing of its ripening, 
and much of it is cut so green that it produces an infe- 
rior seed. When the season happens to be a dry one, 
the seed produced is generally fair, but when, as it some- 
times happens, it is rainy and muggy, much inferior 
seed is the result, which contains more than the average 
of mucilaginous matter and it cannot be as good for 
painting purposes as it should be. There is no question 
then that it would pay owners of buildings being painted 
on the outside, to pay double the price asked for the in- 
ferior oil for a good oil to spread the paint upon them, 
than it would to use the poorer — but they will not, and 
who is to blame if poor painting is done ? 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 279 

It is not intended to convey the idea that all American 
linseed oil is poor; far from it, for some very good oil is 
made here, but only that much inferior seed is raised 
and sold and that such will not make good oil. 

Much poor painting is done — all are aware of that — 
some contractors use snide oils knowingly, and again 
some have doped linseed oil palmed off upon them, and 
again some careful men have an occasional job go 
wrong, for which they rack their brains to find a cause 
for ; but seldom do they ever think that it lays where it 
really does — the quality of the linseed oil. Good lin- 
seed oil is the life of paint. 

THE MANUFACTURE OF LINSEED OIL. 

197. Not SO very many years ago, nearly every lo- 
cality had its linseed oil mill, its wool carding machine, 
etc. ; many other industries that have all taken wings 
and left for the great cities, and there are still plenty 
of men who are living to-day who will recollect them. 
These local presses bought the seed raised in the neigh- 
borhood, crushed it, expressed the oil out of it, tanked 
it and when settled, sold it far and near. The name and 
reputation for honesty of the manufacturer was one of 
the biggest assets of the concern — but those days are 
gone. These old time crushers did not get near as 
much oil out of the seed then as is done now and if some 
of them could go to the present day linseed oil factories 
and see what is done in the way of extraction, they 
would hardly believe it possible. Then, under their 



280 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

crude system of crushing the seed under the chasers and 
of pressing it with little better machinery than that 
used by the cider mill next door, perhaps. 

The principles of making linseed oil is much the same 
to-day as then, but their application is different. There 
is no waste of anything under the new system — but that 
of the quality. We hear and read a great deal about 
cold pressed oil, etc., but with the powerful hydraulic 
presses in use it does not matter so much as to whether 
the flaxseed meal has been slightly heated or not as to 
the resulting quality. The only real difference will be 
that heated seed will make a somewhat more highly col- 
ored oil from some of its coloring pigments being re- 
leased by the process, but that this injures the binding 
quality of the oil is very doubtful and much of this col- 
oring matter is thrown down during the settling pro- 
cess. Considerably more of the mucilagenous parts of 
the seed is expressed under the new system than under 
the old and how much more of this is held in solution by 
the oil or how much of it is precipitated during the set- 
tling and clarifying process is the question, and it has 
not been satisfactorily answered so far. 

Linseed oil after having been pressed out in the days 
that are gone, used to be put into settling taiiks and 
good old father time set to work to do the precipitating 
of all the impurities to make it limpid and fit for use. 
This took several months. The foots and settling re- 
mained behind and — pure linseed oil was the result — 
such oil as old time painters loved to work with and they 
did good work with it — work that stood. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 281 

These old time retrospects are not colored by fancy 
or sentiment — no, they are not wanted to come back 
again and the present has much to be proud of — but its 
methods certainly do not give us as good linseed oil as 
into tanks where it is agitated with sulphuric acid 
as that which we used to get. 

Linseed oil today, after it has been expressed, is run 
into tanks where it is agitated with sulphuric acid, 
usually, which hastens the precipitation of its impuri- 
ties. Some mills use chemicals to produce this precipi- 
tation and in one week of such treatment, the oil is lim- 
pid and ready to be barreled — but is it as good as that 
settled naturally by 90 days of tanking? 

The above is the most usual method of obtaining the 
linseed oil from flaxseed, but there are other methods, 
one of which only will be described as it seems to have 
a sensible way of producing oil, it differing in every re- 
spect from that of expressing. It is called the "perco- 
lation process." 

By the percolation process the oil is not extracted by 
expression but is dissolved from the seed with a solvent 
in the following manner : After grinding, the meal is 
conducted to the top floor of rather high buildings, 
through the several stories of which to the top floor 
also, has been built percolators reaching from top to 
bottom. Into these the flaxseed meal is thrown and 
solidly packed ; then benzine is poured in at the top and 
percolates through the flaxseed meal, dissolving all the 
oil in it on its flow downward and holding it in solution 



282 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

carries it down to the bottom with it ; there it flows into 
pipes hich are heated. Benzine being volatile, vaporizes 
at comparatively low heat, escaping in that shape into 
condensing pipes and drums where it is cooled and re- 
turned to its liquid state to be used again and again in 
the same manner — as an agent of extraction. The oil 
itself is entirely freed of benzine and is conducted to 
clarifying tanks where it receives the usual treatment 
to clear it. Benzine no doubt dissolves some other sub- 
stances, such as coloring matter, etc., that is undesirable 
in a paint oil — but it has no affinity for mucilage and ' 
other baneful substances which are expressed by the 
other methods and no doubt but that during the process 
of clarifying much of these foreign substances are elim- 
inated. Some claim that some of these remain which is 
not thrown down and that it injures the oil — it may be 
so; as most of these statements seem to orginate with 
people whose interests are connected with linseed oil ob- 
tained the other way may it not be possible that many 
of these may have been sugegsted by self interest? 
While not Missourians, there are several persons who 
have used both who affirm that they would have to be 
shown if there was any material difference between 
them in the use they have made of them in their practical 
painting experience. 

Linseed oil is at its best in the "raw" state only, and 
it is only in that condition that intelligent painters use 
it and that it can be recommended for the painting of 
exteriors of buildings or even for the interiors. In its 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 283 

raw state it is elastic, which permits it to expand and 
contract along with any kind of surfaces it is spread 
over, be they wood, brick, metal or stone. Raw linseed 
oil is also penetrating, unless in very cold weather, when 
it is viscid, which enables it to reach down into the pores 
of any material it is applied upon, with the exception of 
glass — as all other material used in house construction 
is more or less porous even to iron and steel. Linseed 
oil painting thus forms little rootlet like connections 
with the material it is placed over, which gives it a firm 
anchorage to its under surface and from which it can 
be forced only by moisture or the decay of the linseed 
oil in time. Pigments having a great tenacity between 
their atoms will usually pull themselves off from sur- 
faces in the shape of scales when they have been used in 
the priming and these scales will show these rootlet-like 
projections very plainly. 

BOILED LINSEED OIL. 

199. Boiled linseed — that has been boiled — which 
is far from being the case always, has lost its elasticity 
by the process of boiling it and nearly all its penetration. 
Boiling it, turns it into a varnish and really it partakes 
more of that character than that which has been de- 
scribed under raw linseed oil. As it cannot contract and 
expand itself to accommodate the nature of the surface 
it covers, it must in time give to the strain given it by the 
contraction of the surface it is painted over, with the 
result that it cracks to accommodate it. White lead. 



284 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

which the reader will recollect is not given to scaling on 
account of its atoms having no affinity for each other, 
which chalk off with raw oil after that has decayed — 
will crack and scale when mixed with boiled oil and all 
painting of any kind done with it will do the same ; only 
more so. 

Then again as nothing short of an expensive chem- 
ical analysis can possibly determine its purity the door 
is practically thrown wide open for the possibility of its 
adulteration. Few retail dealers buy it in a pure state, 
although they may believe it to be so and buy it for such. 
Many others, knowing that the probabilities of obtain- 
ing it pure are rather slim, and that some jobbers dope 
it or bung hole boil it, conclude that they may as well 
have a finger in it themselves and to know just how 
much of it they have in it, so they usually take out 5 or 
10 gallons of the raw oil from a barrel usually averag- 
ing 50 gallons and fill it up with 10 gallons of benzine 
dryers, a cheap manganese wash, dear at 25 cents per 
gallon in barrels lots, which gives the oil the proper 
color and drying qualities of boiled oil and uncon- 
sciously perhaps, but surely, the customer is benefitted 
thereby as that oil so treated is fully as good, if not 
better, for painting than pure boiled oil — that has been 
boiled. Bung hole boiling as the above described sub- 
stitution is called, has become a byword common to 
every user of linseed oil. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 285 

REFINED AND BLEACHED LINSEED OIL. 

200. As the refining of oil bleaches it and the bleach- 
ing refines it, these two designations should go hand in 
hand as they practically mean one and the same thing. 

Linseed oil contains some coloring matter in solution 
which is extracted with it from the flaxseed, either by 
the hydraulic system of pressing or that of percolation, 
as it was seen. It parts with a portion of it while it is 
settled but still holds a quantity of it after that. Now 
certain light tones of colors and especially the zinc 
whites, which require much more oil to grind them than 
white lead, are apt to gain a yellowish tinge from ordi- 
nary oil. Varnish manufacturers too, who put out ef- 
forts on all sides to make as light and clear toned var- 
nishes as possible, must get rid of most, if not all, this 
coloring matter contained in the oil used in grinding 
such colors, or in preparing varnishes. Such either buy 
the oil already refined or refine it themselves. 

The process of refining and bleaching linseed oil is 
simple enough ; it is : Further agitation of the oil with 
sulphuric acid and exposure to sunlight for a few days 
in shallow vessels covered so as to exclude dirt, but ad- 
mitting light, but little if any air, as that might have a 
tendency to fatten it. 

Linseed oil which has been treated so is nearly as 
light toned (not quite) as poppy seed oil, but it will not 
nor cannot take the place of that and nut oil for artists' 
use because — all linseed oil, no matter how carefully 
coloring matter may have been extracted out of it — 



286 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

will darken with time. Even the others do, but not 
quite to the same extent as it will. This darkening of 
oil is what causes the darkening of old oil paintings. 

Let linseed oil's faults be what they may, there is 
nothing better made for painting purposes, and it is 
better and stronger than any other of the iixed oils. 

POPPY SEED OIL. 

" 201. As its name indicates, this oil is the product of 
the poppy plant. Some varieties of it produce very 
large seed heads and are raised in fields in a commercial 
way for its seeds. They are harvested in baskets as the 
head ripens — which they do not do all at once, so that it 
requires several goings over the field to get them all in. 
This is a slow process, hence this paint oil can never be 
cheap. The seeds are crushed, the oil drawn out by 
pressure in much the same way as related for linseed 
oil. The oil produced is very light and clear, and it is 
highly esteemed by artists as it does not turn dark with 
age as linseed oil does, although it will too, (in a lesser 
degree. ) 

It does not dry very readily, nor has it the tenacity 
of linseed oil, and as its cost is so much greater, there is 
little danger of its ever becoming a very dangerous rival 
and its use is mainly confined to artists. 

The main uses are in the grinding of zinc white, but 
even for the grinding of this the use of it is waning — 
even artists are beginning to shun it as the cleaner tone 
obtained from its use applies to whites only, and as with 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 287 

time it darkens also, there is but little gained by its use 
after all, especially for those who are working for pos- 
terity. 

NUT OIL. 

202. Nut oil is produced mainly from the meats or 
kernels of the English walnut, so called no doubt be- 
cause most of them come from Italy, France and Spain. 
These meats are crushed and the oil expressed in much 
the same manner as stated before for linseed oil. This 
oil is very light and clear with just the slighest sus- 
picion of yellow and is the cleanest toned that can be 
had for mixing with pigments and for that reason is 
most highly esteemed by artists who cater mainly to the 
sale of their painting to the present and do not care to 
have their work endure forever, for unfortunately the 
old adage holds true for it : "Pretty is who pretty does," 
it has not got the tenacity of linseed oil and the decay of 
the oil will in a comparatively short time loosen its hold 
upon the pigments. So with a prohibitive cost in the 
first place, which artists only can stand — as a little goes 
a long ways with them — there is little danger of its ever 
being as much as spoken of in general paint shops. 

THE VOLATILE OILS. 

203. These oils are so named because of their hav- 
ing great evaporating qualities. When exposed to air, 
especially under heat, which accelerates the process of 
evaporation, they vanish entirely away in vapors. All 



288 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

the volatile oils have an extremely pungent small which 
is peculiar to each, and by which each class of them is 
easily recognized by the nose to any one accustomed to 
their use. Their action in connection with paint and its 
application is to render it more fluid. They can be 
mixed in any proportion with linseed oil and are perfect 
solvents of it. 

204. They are indispensable to the proper mixing 
of paints and without them it would be impossible to do 
many kinds of painting. By their admixture they ren- 
der linseed oil more fluid, more penetrating, helping to- 
make it set more quickly. This quicker setting renders 
possible the application of heavy pigments which would 
otherwise quickly separate from linseed oil alone as that 
would not commence to set for a much longer time. 

The volatile oils have no binding properties what- 
ever, and their beneficial use for outdoor painting is al- 
together mechanical as adjuncts to linseed oil and for 
specific purposes only. When enough has been used of 
them to accomplish the purpose intended not a drop 
more should be added — for then they become harmful 
instead of beneficial. 

205. They are chiefly used for interior painting and 
it is well that it is so, as being in a manner protected 
they can be used in much larger quantities than for out- 
door painting and for -flatting instead of being the ad- 
junct to linseed oil, they are the principal thinner and 
linseed oil enters the compound simply because of its 
binding property and not because it is desirable. All 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 289 

through this manual has been given under their proper 
headings, directions as to how the various coats of paint 
should be mixed with them. 

Volatile oils are extensively used in the preparation 
of varnishes and for tempering them for application 
when they need it. They are good solvents of the fixed 
oils and having detergent properties are useful to clean 
paint brushes, etc. 

TURPENTINE. 

206. This is the product of the conifers — all pine 
and resinous evergreen trees contain it in some form, 
but our own southern long leaf yellow pine produces 
more of it than all the other pines of the whole world 
put together. The trees are scarified and the crude tur- 
pentine exudes through the wounds, gathering at the 
bottom of the cut out and hollowed in grooves called 
"the box." This crude turpentine solidifies into a soft 
gum which is distilled when the spirits of turpentine of 
commerce as we know it is separated from its solid por- 
tions which remain behind as rosin. 

Turpentine is by long odds the most useful of the vol- 
atile oils used in painting. Its odor while very pungent 
is not disagreeable to most persons, and while when it 
is used in large quantities as in flatting, when a person 
will absorb large quantities of it by absorption and 
through inhaling it, it will act excessively upon his kid- 
neys when used in a moderate way or out of doors it will 
not be very likely to injure him. 



290 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

BENZINE AND NAPTHA. 

207. Benzine and naptha are both volatile oils 
which are obtained from the distillation of crude pe- 
troleum oil. They are so nearly identical in composi- 
tion, working qualities and everything else, that they 
are joined together in this review as everything that can 
be said of the one applies to the other also. Their odor 
is extremely pungent and disagreeable to most persons. 
They are very dilutent and their effect and action upon 
paint is very similar to that of turpentine. Few people 
can remain shut up in a room where they are used in 
flatting, for few men can stand their fumes long at a 
time. This is their worst fault, and after all this is the 
chief reason why they are not used more extensively 
than they are — without the having to give any other 
reasons which usually are not to the point and which 
cannot be made to stand investigation. The time is near 
at hand when painters will be forced to use them as the 
turpentine fields are narrowing up every day more and 
more and in a very few years there will be little more 
left than will be needed for pharmaceutical preparations 
in compounding medicine and it will have become so 
high priced that it will have to be benzine and naptha or 
nothing. 

It is hoped that preivous to that time, chemistry will 
discover some remedy to remove or disguise the 
"smell." It is to a great extent minimized now, and the 
barrel heads say: deodorised benzine, etc., but there i^ 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 291 

room for still more of it to kill it entirely and much re- 
mains to be done. 

OIL OF LAVENDER (oiL OF SPIKE.) 

208. This is used only in china or porcelain paint- 
ing, where owing to its fatty and lesser volatile condi- 
tion than the others which have just been noticed — it 
prevents the colors from running and gives plenty of 
time for their application. This is never used in gen- 
eral house painting. 

DRYERS. 

209. Linseed oil, unless under very adverse circum- 
stances, would dry naturally. Some pigments when 
mixed with it have the property of rendering it more 
drying and help it to dry more quickly than it would by 
Its lone self — but others again are anti-drying and 
greatly retard the drying of the oil. Again the weather 
conditions may not be propitious to the proper drying of 
the oil, so that when a person has some outdoor painting 
to do unless the weather is fair, settled and warm, he 
will need to use some dryers to hasten the drying of the 
paint as it would not do to trust to luck and the weather 
and have the painting spoiled. 

The above must not be construed as an endorsement 
of the unlimited use of driers in paint. No, far from it. 
There is no one cause why so much linseed oil painting 
goes to pieces in a hurry than can easily be traced to the 
abuse of driers. The word abuse is used purposely and 



292 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

underscored because the proper use of driers is allow- 
able. 

Nearl all the driers in the market today are com- 
pounded from the oxides of manganese and are 
naturally dark colored on that account. They are pre- 
pared and sold under a great variety of names, as japan 
driers, liquid driers and with a host of fancy proprie- 
tary names and at prices where no painter can afford to 
fool his time away in preparing them himself. 

There is a queer thing in connection with the use of 
the liquid driers and it is that a small quantity of it will 
sometimes act quicker than an overdose of it, and that 
when it is used in overdoses it will retard instead of 
hasten the drying of oil. One tablesponful of any good 
liquid drier will be sufficient to dry a quart of paint or 
more. 

There are some special driers prepared for use with 
zinc white — these too are best bought ready for use, 
ground up in paste form, as the time required and the 
special facilities needed for grinding, mixing, etc., are 
not to be had in every shop. 

QUESTIONS IN OILS AND DRIERS. 

194. How are oils useful in painting divided? 

195. What is said of fixed oils in general? 

196. What is said concerning the production of 
flaxseed ? 

197. How is linseed oil manufactured? 

198. What is said of raw linseed oil? 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 293 

199. What is said of boiled linseed oil? 

200. What is refined or bleached linseed oil ? 

201. How is poppy seed oil produced? 

202. What is nut oil? 

203. What are volatile oils? 

204. What action do they exert in paint ? 

205. Where are they most useful? 

206. What is turpentine and how produced? 

207. What is said of benzine and turpentine ? 

208. Where is oil of lavender mostly useful? 

209. What is said regarding driers ? 

PAINTING IN OIL ON GLASS. 

210. Most of the painting done in oil on glass is 
that done by "Sign Painters," and as this branch of the 
business will be treated at length in subsequent pages, 
the reader is referred to that subject where he will find 
full directions given for the same. See paragraphs 
275 to 276. 

There is, it is true, some little amateurish painting in 
oil upon glass, but such work stands to true art in very 
much the same relation as "doggerel" verse does to 
poetry. 

On account of the difficulty of judging the effects of 
colors from the back side of the glass where the painting 
must be done in order to produce the solid and enameled 
effect which is the only excuse people can have for doing 
any painting at all upon such fragile material, for if the 
glass be painted on its front side then it would in no 



294 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

wise differ from any other painting done on canvas or 
wood and there could be no excuse given for not using 
those insetad. For painting on glass from the reverse 
side, the subject must be outlined and all the prominent 
dark colors must be put on first, for otherwise they 
would not show if applied over white and other light 
tints ; then when dry the next prominent dark tints and 
others which must be blended into them to make graded 
tones. This is where the great difficulty comes in — to 
blend them properly — even when well done, which is 
seldom the case, it cannot possibly be done as well as 
upon surface work and with its outlines, etc., must pre- 
sent a gingerbread appearance which is in bad taste, to 
say the least, and which will set an artists' teeth on 
edge. Such attempt must always be crude and unsat- 
isfactory. 

QUESTION ON PAINTING ON GLASS. 

210. What is said concerning painting in oil on 
glass ? 

PAINTING A BATH TUB. 

211. The painting of a bath tub, or rather the re- 
painting of them, is not a very difficult operation — but 
the preparing and getting ready for it may be so ; es- 
pecialy if the painting is expected to stand any length 
of time. 

The paint on a bath tub is subjected to considerable 
more hardship than any other kind of painting has to ; 



Modern Painter^s Cyclopedia 295 

unless it be that done upon steam pipes and radiators. 
The great heat at which hot water is sometimes turned 
on and the suddenness with which ice cold water fol- 
lows it to cool it is very much harder on the paint than 
anything it would have to stand from the elements out 
doors; in order to stand all those extremes it must be 
mixed in an entirely different manner from that in 
which exterior oil painting is done, as ordinary linseed 
oil paint would peel off in no time under the strain it 
would have to bear. 

New bath tubs are painted with a specially prepared 
varnish paint where the pigment is mixed with what is 
called "baking japan." After the painting they are 
placed in an oven and subjected to a great heat which 
causes the japan paint to flow level and this leveling 
frees it of brush marks and causes it to dry very hard, 
nearly as hard as the iron over which it is applied. After 
having gone through this baking process, water and 
heat — such at least as it is subjected to in a bath room — 
have no effect upon it. 

212. But when a bath tub is repainted the above 
process cannot be employed unless the tub is returned 
to some establishment where they are prepared to do 
such work with ovens sufficiently large to bake the tubs. 
This would be much the best way — but such concerns 
are not to be found everywhere and it is well to know 
what is the "next best" way to effect the repainting of 
it "where it stands in the bath room." The "next best'' 
as in most all other things, is not as good as the origi- 



29G Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

nal but answers the purpose fairly well. It will have to 
be mixed so that it will air dry and as no heat can be 
applied which will cause it to flow level it can not be as 
level as in the original painting. 

In the first place all the chipped or loose paint must 
be carefully removed and sandpapered ; then the surface 
should be run over with a very stiff bristle brush to re- 
move any dirt which may have found a lodgment any 
where, especialy between the chipped places. The 
whole of the inside of the tub should be now washed 
with a solution of sal-soda which should be afterward 
carefully rinsed off with clean water and afterward well 
dried by friction with dry cotton rags, when it should 
be left several hours to become free of moisture when it 
will be ready to receive the paint coats. 

This is prepared from white lead and turpentine. The 
white lead should be ground in japan as no oil at all 
should be used. Go over the bare spots first of all, in 
order to level up the surface as much as possible; be 
careful to wipe off the surplus color which will find its 
way on the adjoining surface of the paint and would 
make a ridge if not wiped off. It will take two coats of 
the filling to fill these places. These coats dry quickly 
and two or three coats can be given in one day. When 
the filling to fill these bare places. These coats dry 
quickly and two or three coats can be given in one day. 
When the filling up has been completed, give the whole 
inside of the tub two coats, prepared as for the filling. 
This should make a pretty fair job if the brushing has 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 297 

been carefully done. It will, however, look flat and a 
protecting coat of good varnish must be given the paint. 
It must be a hard drying varnish and moreover it must 
be of light color. This is sometimes difficult to find in 
many localities. Upon the whole it will be much better 
and safer to employ the following system in repainting 
a bath tub : Clean up in exactly the same way as stated 
before, then buy some ready prepared bath tub enamel. 
It is mixed, ready thinned for application with the right 
kind of varnish by the manufacturers, who are usually 
better judges of the right sort of varnish to use than the 
average painter is and these have a reputation to make 
and sustain and they have to use all possible precaution 
in preparing them so as to do all that such a paint is ex- 
pected to do. As some manufacturers prepare these 
bath tub enamels differently from others, each having 
their own formula, it will be best to follow the directions 
printed on the label of each can — and the painting will 
be the better for it. 

QUESTIONS ON PAINTING OF BATH TUBS. 

211. What is said about the painting of bath tubs 
in general ? 

212. How are bath tubs to be prepared and re- 
painted ? 

PAINTING OF STATUARY. 

213. Few persons have any idea of the extent of 
this branch of the painter'.s art — for it is at least a semi- 



298 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

artistic occupation. Statues in city and country 
churches and statuettes in numberless quantities are 
used in nearly every home, no matter how humble it 
may be, either as religious objects or in the bric-a-brac 
shelf or chimney mantle, besides the ornamentation in 
bed rooms, etc. Some is done in china factories and the 
greater part of the statuary painting is done in Euro- 
pean establishments. Many have commenced the man- 
ufacture of statuary in this country. But it is not so 
much of the painting required in their manufacture 
which will be referred to in this article as the repainting 
of them, as in all our larger cities the repainting has to 
be done again and again, owing to the smoky atmos- 
phere which soon makes them dingy. This furnishes 
lucrative employment to many painters aside from what 
is originally done in factories where statues are manu- 
factured. 

214. The statutes are cast in plaster paris from 
moulds. The plaster having been mixed with fiber 
very similar to well picked oakum but somewhat coarser 
and longer; this is done in order that they may not 
break so readily and upon the same principle that hair 
is added to mortar for plastering. 

After the statue has been cast and well seasoned, 
they must be filled, but previous to the filling it should 
be primed inside with linseed oil. The statue should be 
placed upside down as they are usually cast hollow, they 
should be carefully propped up and guarded from in- 
jury from falling and then linseed oil should be poured 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 290 

into the opening up to the top of it. After an hour the 
linseed oil should be poured back as the statue will have 
absorbed all it is capable of in that time. 

The above applies to busts and statuettes really more 
than to statues as the valuable ones of these are fre- 
quently cast solidly. 

They are then placed upon &. receptacle to drip and 
dry, which will require a week as the linseed oil should 
be raw and used without any drier. 

When dry they should be placed upside down again 
in the same manner as before, being filled with oil and 
should be filled with plaster paris made sufficiently li- 
quid to pour out. But little at a time should be added 
as there is considerable heat evolved during the setting 
and also some swelling, and the statuette might be 
cracked from that cause. Pour a little at a time, wait- 
ing two hours before pouring in any more and con- 
tinuing doing so until it is completely filled up. This 
will make it as solid as if it had been cut out of stone 
and about as heavy. No more plaster should be mixed 
up than can be used at one pouring as otherwise it 
would set very hard and be lost. 

According as to the size of the statues it will take 
from one to three weeks for the plaster to part with 
all its extra moisture and to become sufficiently dry to 
begin the painting. If the painting should be com- 
menced before the drying is thoroughly accomplished 
there would be great danger of its peeling. 

215. The statuettes should now be well rubbed 



300 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

over with a coat of clear linseed oil, brushing them ovef 
and over again two or three times as the oil will soak 
into them quickly. They should now be laid aside to 
dry and given eight or ten days for the oil to harden 
up thoroughly, when the painting proper may begin. 

The first coat may be thinned with half oil and half 
turpentine and the coloring should be nearly the same 
as that intended for the finishing, but no attention 
need be paid to any of the details. 

After two or three days' drying the finishing coat 
may be applied. This should not contain more than 
1/5 linseed oil and 4/5 turpentine for the thinner of the 
pigment. About ^ ounce of beeswax (bleached) 
should have been previously melted for every pint of 
turpentine used and mixed up with that warmed up. 
This makes a beautiful, soft flat finish with a delicate 
transparency of tone unobtainable in any other way. 
The statues or statuettes are now ready for the details, 
etc. ; and the gilding also should be applied as soon as 
it has well dried, which will take from 24 to 48 hours, 

QUESTIONS ON THE PAINTING OF STATUARY. 

213. What is said of painting statuary? 

214. How are statues and statuettes prepared for 
painting? 

215. How are they painted? 



Modern Painters Cyclopedia 301 

PAPER hanger's tools. 

216. One of the most important tools to the paper 
hanger is a good table and supports for it to cut paper 
upon and to spread the paste on it. 




Fig. 49.— Folding Paste Table. 

The above is shown not so much as that some other 
form of pasteboard and tresoles may not answer the 
purpose; but that this is a very convenient and handy 
one which folds up into a small space when not in use. 

The paste brushes shown below will suit the re- 
quirements of any paperhanger. Fig. 50 has a grip 



Fig. 50 — Paperhanger 's Paste Brush. 



302 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



handle and Fig. 51 a slim, oval handle easy, on the 
hand. 




Fig. 51 — Paperhanger 's Paste Brush. 

Under the heading of "Brushes" see Figs. 25 and 
26, which show two styles of smoothing brushes, Fig. 




Figs. 52 and 53 — Paperhanger 's Smoothing Brushes. 

26 showing one which is a combination tool, having a 
seam roller at one end. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



303 



Seam rollers are shown below in Figs. 54, 55 and 56 
of various forms under the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, 
H, J, K, L, M. 




B 





D 




Fig. 54 — Seam Rollers 



304 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 






G 




H 



Fig. 5f — ^Paperhanger's Seam Rollers. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 305 





K 





M 



rig. 56— Paperhanger's Seam Rollers. 



306 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



Smoothing rollers are indispensible in smoothing 
embossed and other high priced paper as the ordinary 






pjn^^x'^ \.«-~^*},Y 







Fig. 57 — Smoothing Roller. 

smoothing brush would be apt to obliterate the em- 
bossing. Two kinds are shown in Figs. 57 and 58. 




Fig. 58 — Smoothing Roller, 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 307 

A good machine to trim paper is useful for the 
trimming of all the cheaper papers and can be made 
to answer fairly well for the better grades also if care 
is exercised in the trimming with them. Fig. 59 shows 
how one is operated. 




Fig. 59 — Machine Trimmer. 

Straight edges to trim paper by with the knives, also 
to split same, are usually made of narrow strips of dif- 




tio. 1 Brmti Bound Trimmar }tni|hi«df« 

Fig. 60— Straight Edges. 



ferent kinds of wood glued together. Fig. 60 shows 
how they are put together. 



308 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



Paper hangers as a rule are very fastidious about the 
shape of the knives they use in the trimming of paper. 
It is a matter of custom and habit which may be grati- 
fied, as our Fig. 6i shows all kinds of shapes of them. 





B 





Fig. 61 — Paperhanger 's Knives. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



309 



And of the rotary knives an equally large variety are 
shown in Fig. 62 under the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, 
H. 




*«i".f< 




B 





rig. 62 — Paperhanger 's Wheel Knives. 



310 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 







Fig. 62— Paperhanger's Wheel Knives. 



H 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



311 



An excellent and handy tool to have is a combination 
casing and corner knife such as is shown in Fig. 6^. 




Fig. 63 — Paperhanger 's Wheel Knives. 



Some very handy rotary trimming knives are now 
made which run in a grooved straight edge, which pre- 
vents the wheel from slipping or getting off the track. 




Fig. 64 — ^Wall Paper Trimmer. 

Fig. 64 illustrates the manner of using them and shows 
the groove on the straight edge into which they are 
fastened and held. 



312 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



Another excellent tool is. the graduated plumb and 
level. Fig. 65 gives a good illustration of the tool. 




Fig. 65 — Graduating Plumb and Level. 

The old fashion plumb bob is also very useful and 
is too well known to need illustrating, 

A few twelve or fourteen quarts galvanized iron 
pails to hold size and paste in, a supply of step ladders, 
ladder trestles and strong 2-inch walking and scaffold 
planks complete the list. 



QUESTION ON PAPER HANGER S TOOLS. 

216. Use the above to refer to as you have need for 
the same. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 313 

PAPER HANGING. 

217. Paper hanging has become such an enormous 
factor in the decoration of interiors as to be used by 
every family in the land from the very poorest shack or 
hut to the palatial residence of the millionaire. It is 
no wonder, then, that it gives employment to such an 
army of men. Probably 95 per cent of all painters who 
call themselves general workmen are paper hangers 
also. 

Wall paper certainly is the poor man's friend as some 
of it is so cheap as to be next to nothing per roll. This 
makes it possible for any person having a desire for 
clean and cheerful looking rooms to indulge the fancy 
at a cost so small that it is not a burden. 

Some years ago there was much space taken up in the 
papers about persons having been poisoned by sleeping 
in papered bedrooms and the fault had been laid to the 
employment of arsenic and other poisons in the printing 
of the wall paper. One hears but little of this now, so 
the presumption is that whatever may have been the 
practice of wall paper manufacturers in the past, that 
now, at least, there are no poisons used in the colors 
used by them. As they have always strenuously denied 
that they used arsenic when they were accused of it, 
it is a matter of great doubt if they ever did resort to it 
as the purpose for which it might be used can be sup- 
plied at a lower cost by non-poisonous compounds. Hu- 
man nature is much the same in wall paper printers as it 
is in any one else. They certainly would be fools to 



314 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

pay more for doing something which they could all 
know would be hurtful to that business. 

Everything under the sun that has ever been used 
as wall covering is now imitated by wall paper, and 
that so cleverly as to appear to be the very kind of ma- 
terial they are imitating — tapestries, draperies, canvas, 
burlap, buckram, laces, leather — there is nothing or 
no effects which they do not reproduce and the imitative 
powers of wall paper artists is wonderful to behold ! 

The wall paper trade has so systematized and ar- 
ranged things that a good, tasty selection is made possi- 
ble even for people who are color blind. The arrange- 
ment of sample books which show combinations of ceil- 
ings, walls and frieze, all colored and designed purposely 
for each other, are all so good that no one can go far 
wrong in making a selection. Besides these already pre- 
pared tasteful combinations there is a limitless quantity 
of independent designs which give the tasty person a 
chance to select something which will show individuality 
of arrangement, and where he can give his own artistic 
tastes full play in arranging his decorative schemes. 

When selecting wall paper several things should be 
taken into consideration in order that there may not 
be any incongruities. The location of the room as to 
light, the character of the house itself, the prevailing 
tone of the furniture and carpets, and the social position 
of the occupants of the house, etc., etc. 

A sunny room with plenty of light usually requires 
cool-toned paper as warm-toned hangings have the ten- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 315 

dency to add a feeling of increased heat ; this is imagina- 
tive it is true, but existing just the same, and no amount 
of reasoning takes it away, either. 

Likewise, for the same reason, but reversed, warm- 
toned hangings should be selected for rooms which have 
no sunshine and are in constant shadow. The warm 
coloring adds a feeling of warmth. Thus by judicious 
selection an evenly balanced whole will be secured where 
the difference in temperature will not be so keenly felt 
as it would be otherwise. The coloring of the carpets 
may greatly mar an otherwise prefectly combined 
scheme for the walls and these should always be con- 
sidered in making a selection. 

Now, as to the social position, many would say: 
"How can that possibly affect the selection of wall 
paper?" The right of selecting any kind of wall hang- 
ers is not denied to any one for we are all born equal 
and free(?) but sometimes exercising the right may 
render people ridiculous. A man has a perfect right to 
wear a swallow tail dress suit on the street and with 
that put on a chauffeur's cap, but they seldom exercise 
it. So a person earning $12.00 per week who would 
select silk hangings with hand made gold leaf decora- 
tion on it to match a 75-cent-a-yard ingrain carpet 
would have as good a right to it as the man whose 
weekly income is as great as the first earns in a whole 
year — the $12.00 man should not exercise his rights, 
that's all. Happily wall paper has tasteful selections to 



316 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

suit the pocket books and taste of all sorts and condi- 
tions of people. 

218. The proper conditions for hanging paper upon 
the walls requires them to be hard and smooth. If 
they are not so naturally they should be made so — at 
least as near as it is possible to do so, before the hang- 
ing is commenced. 

In new houses and for new work everything usually 
works lovely and easy, seldom presenting any diffi- 
culties and so such need no special mention as to how 
to prepare the walls and are ready for hanging. 

219. If the house has been papered before, it is al- 
ways best to wash ofif and remove the old paper before 
applying the next coat of it, yet some people will keep on 
hanging paper on walls repeatedly without taking ofif 
the old. If wall paper is hung anew every year or at 
most, every two years, it would not be especially hurtful 
if two thicknesses of it is left on, provided that it be 
surely taken off before the third one goes on — but 
usually persons who form the bad habit of hanging new 
paper over old hardly ever stop on two coats and the 
habit in time becomes incurable — or till the myriads of 
bacterial colonies breeding all the diseases human flesh 
is heir to — fastens some deadly disease upon a mem- 
ber of the family and sends him to an untimely grave. 
No doubt but that decaying wall hanging furnishes a 
medium through which many a disease germ has been 
carried to persons who live in houses where coat after 
coat of paper have been put on, one on top of another, 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 317 

for years and years. Probably all the poison cases we 
used to hear about were due to this same cause — decay. 

The moral carried by the above is : Always take off 
the old paper in a room before hanging the new, that 
is if you value your own or your family's health. 

After taking off the paper the walls should be sized 
over with glue size made antiseptic by the addition of 
a few drops of carbolic acid. If the smell is objection- 
able, by the addition of a few grains of corrosive sub- 
limate, which is still better. This protects the underside 
of the paper from becoming the habitation of visible as 
well as invisible insects and bacteria. 

In very old houses some of the old-time plastered 
walls can frequently be found which are in such dilapi- 
dated condition that one may well wonder why the 
plasterer had not been called in ahead of the paper 
hanger to do patching, which, in some instances, amount 
to as much as a fourth of the whole surface to be pa- 
pered — but the paper hanger is suposed to cover the 
old walls and make them look as good as new. 

All paper hangers should be at least two-third plas^ 
terers, too, and carry a kit of plasterer's tools with 
them, at least a pointing trowel and even a large plas- 
tering trowel will be needed to patch up some of the 
"grand openings" on the walls. With the ready-to-use 
prepared plasters, which can now be found everywhere, 
it is not such a very difficult job to fix up walls, after all, 
and they can be gone over in a very little time, ordinar- 
illy. Cracks on plastered walls require more time to fill 



318 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

them properly than bigger holes do, especially where 
they are numerous and small. A preparation of plaster 
paris thinned with glue water will be found best for all 
the smaller openings as that will set slowly enough to 
allow plenty of time to do the work, and there being 
no caustic lime in it, the color of the wall paper will 
not be injured. As soon as the cracks and holes in the 
plastering have been repaired, go over them with the 
size mentioned before and the room is then ready to be 
papered. 

220. Sometimes the paper hanger is called upon to 
hang paper in the back rooms of stores and elsewhere 
where one or more sides of a room are wooden parti- 
tions. \Vall paper hung upon bare wood will soon 
crack, as the paper is inflexible and cannot give with the 
wood's contraction in cold, dry weather or its expansion 
during a hot, moist spell. To prepare the wooden sur- 
face so the wall paper will stay on it, they must be 
canvassed over with muslin. The best way to do this 
is to sew together enough widths to cover the side of 
a wall to an opening cut to the proper lengths ; then it 
should be tacked first at the top, then at the bottom and 
sides. Then tack it through the center and .elsewhere 
so that it will not bag anywhere, but lay flat. 

Some paper hangers prefer to size the partitions and 
to paste the muslin, laying it on in strips the same as 
wall paper. This method has the advantage of making 
a solid job of it, but the beading of the boards is likely 
to show through the paper after it is hung over it. It is 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 319 

also more difficult to hang the wet, limp muslin and it 
will require two men to handle the wet pieces — the ex- 
tra man to pull the strip of muslin off the boards until 
the other has brushed it down. 

HANGING THE PAPER. 

221. The paper which is sent on the job is some- 
times machine-trimmed at the shop before it is sent out. 
With a little care in the pasting of it, paper trimmed be- 
fore hand answers very well for all ordinary work; 
but much the better way is to paste the wall paper, fold 
it both ways and trim it with a knife and straight edge. 
These knives come in all sorts of shapes and are shown 
in Fig. 6i. Some paper hangers prefer a rotary wheel 
knife and a good variety of these are shown in Fig. 
62. But the surest of these, and the handiest, too, is 
shown in Fig. 64. 

222. There are many different kinds of paste in 
the market which are offered ready prepared. Some 
are made from flour, steam cooked, and put up in barrels 
and half barrels. Some antiseptic preparation is usually 
added to it to prevent its souring as quickly as it would 
otherwise. The steam cooked paste is put up very thick 
and requires thinning with cold water. It works 
smooth and nice, but it has its faults — the greatest one 
being that when it has to be shipped from a distance 
the freight on the water it conains, and he cost of the 
package, count up heavily, making its cost too high. 

The cooked and dried paste in powdered form, only 
requiring thinning with cold water or even with warm 



320 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

water, are excellent. They keep indefinitely, there is 
no freight to pay for water. They are handy to send 
out on a job, being always ready to be thinned as 
wanted, and enough can be carried in the coat pocket to 
do an ordinary room. 

Then again there are preparations which resemble 
dextrine somewhat, but which make a stronger paste 
that dries harder, which ace made out of some of the by- 
products of starch and glucose factories, which come 
cheap and are very efficient. They do not make as 
white a paste as flour but they do not strike through 
the paper, and paper pasted with it will slide better than 
the ordinary flour paste would permit ; they are readily 
dissolved in cold water and for that reason are pre- 
ferred by many paper hangers, but warm water is bet- 
ter. 

Some, again, prefer to make their paste from starch. 
This, of course, makes a very nice, clear smooth paste — 
but it is not considered as strong as flour paste. 

While prepared pastes and powdered paste are very 
handy, etc., it frequently happens that they cannot be 
bought in certain localities and for that and other rea- 
sons every paper hanger should know how to make 
his own paste from flour, either wheat or rye. The fol- 
lowing directions will make good, smooth paste if the 
directions are carried out ; to make an ordinary pail of 
paste, take 2^/2 pounds of flour. It need not be the 
highest quality as the lower grades make a stronger 
paste than the whitest does, and the color of paste does 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 321 

not hurt it any. Put the flour in the pail you intend to 
make it and cook it in. Then pour in enough cold 
water to make it up into a stiff dough as for bread. Stir 
it up well until you are tired of it and some more. When 
well worked up pour in a little more cold water, stir 
as before, only that it will be a little thinner, and keep on 
adding a little water and stirring well until the 
whole mass is about of the consistency of thick pancake 
batter. This batter should be of a uniform texture if 
it has been properly stirred up. While preparing the 
flour, plenty of water should have been provided and 
put on the stove to boil. Then pour some of the 
boiling water into the batter slowly, stirring it well, and 
keep on pouring with one hand, stirring it well, and 
until it is cooked, which you will soon find out as the 
paste thickens and changes color when cooked. Be 
sure to have enough boiling water or you may not have 
enough, and the batch will be spoiled, as it must be 
cooked then or never. As the paste thickens in cooling, 
it should be thinned with enough water to make it 
rather thinner than it needs to be for the pasting on, 
but even then when it cools it will be likely to be too 
thick for use and probably will require to be thinned 
with more water. Should it be lumpy it will show 
that it has not been properly stirred up in the dough 
or in the batter before cooking it; in that case strain it 
through a calcimine strainer or through cheese cloth, 
and it will then be fit for use. 



322 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

223. Paste should be applied to the wrong side of 
the paper, never on its face. This advice may sound 
simple and foolish to most persons, but that is where 
many paper hangers who are good at hanging manage 
to get more on than they intended. Good pasters among 
paper hangers are not as plentiful as they ought to be, 
and many an otherwise well executed job is marred by 
paste spots showing here and there or along the edges. 

In pasting the paper the outer edge is usually easily 
taken care of by bringing it over the edge of the board 
beyond the rest of the paper so that the paste brush will ' 
not touch the understrips; it is the back edge which 
gives trouble. The better way is to run the paste brush 
on the body of the paper to within ^ of an inch of the 
edge and when the strip has been all pasted but that to 
slip the hand under the strip being pasted and to slide it 
along ahead of the paste brush so that the brush can 
slide over the edge of the paper while it is lifted by the 
left hand clear of the board. In the ready trimmed pa- 
per, extra care should be taken that the edges are not 
given too much paste as it would squeeze over while be- 
ing smoothed on the wall. 

When the first half of a strip of paper has been 
pasted, fold it over carefully and pull up the rest of the 
strip on the paste board, which proceed to paste the 
same as directed ; then fold it together. Folding it in 
that way prevents the paster slide coming in contact 
with the hands while handling it, and makes it easy to 
carry about as only the dry side shows. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 323 

For very long strips the paper may have to be doubled 
over again and again in order to get it all pasted on 
the ordinary 7 or 8- foot board. In such cases it must 
be machine-trimmed beforehand as it would be a very 
difficult and annoying job to unfold it and trim it piece- 
meal with a knife, or it may be dry trimmed by hand 
with shears as is the general practice in England today. 

224. For very good reasons ceilings are usually pa- 
pered first. This can be done in two ways : First, with 
a scaffold, supporting walking boards, which may be 
ordinary horses of the right height, which can be 
pulled along on the floor to the end of the room or from 
a walking board supported by a couple of ladder tres- 
tles. If the room is not square, a chalk line should be 
used in order to mark out the edge where the first strip 
of paper is to be placed ; this should catch all parts of 
the ceiling between it and the side wall. If the wall is 
not true, some portions of the first strip will lap over 
on the side wall, but that does not matter as the frieze 
will cover it. Then continue, strip by strip, to the end. 
The first strip being right, all the others must be, too. 

Dropped ceilings are so called in wall paper parlance 
when the ceiling paper is extended over on the side 
walls either one-half or the width of a whole strip or 
more. 

Cheap papers are usually trimmed only on one side 
and lapped over the selvage of the other. 

The better grades are usually "butted/' or both edges 
are trimmed off and a joint made, as the name indicates. 



324 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

by abutting the two sides together when they are rolled 
over with the seam roller, and the rest of the strip with 
the smoothing roller. ' 

In the hanging of ingrained paper great care must be 
taken to have the ceiling and walls sandpapered smooth, 
as a single sand speck will show through it. Also great 
care must be exercised in trimming the edges for they 
must fit up close or the plaster will show through. If 
the ceiling is uneven it will be impossible to make a 
good job with it except by matching up some distemper 
color as near like it as possible, and painting a strip an 
inch wide where the seams should meet; then, if, per- 
chance, the perfect fitting of the edges is impossible, the 
plaster will not show through and nothing but a criti- 
cal investigation will show it to the observer. 

225. As nearly everything said above concerning 
the hanging of paper upon ceilings applies with equal 
force to the hanging of paper upon the side walls, it 
will be unnecessary to repeat it here again. The only 
difference is in the manner of doing the work of apply- 
ing it, which for side walls is done from a step ladder. 
Commencing at a point where, after going around 
the room should there be a miss-match where the paper 
comes together, there will be the less likelihood of its 
being noticed; the work is continued, strip by strip, 
until one reaches thp starting point. W^indows and 
doors should have the design carried through over 
them, and the windows under them also. All corners 



Modern Painter^s Cyclopedia 325 

should be cut out, making an allowance of % an inch 
of paper for the lap over. 

It is immaterial as to which way a man turns around 
the room in hanging wall paper, and it is altogether 
a matter of habit, as it cannot possibly make any differ- 
ence. The pieces should have been cut long enough so 
that the border will catch all of it at the top and a 
trifle over, and that it will reach down on the base 
board with a little to spare. The paper itself should be 
hung perfectly plumb. The paper hanger should always 
carry a plumb bob with him on every job for the pur- 
pose of knowing that his work is done properly. A 
good casing and corner knife will be of great help and 
a time saver in helping him to fit the end of his pieces. 
It requires good judgment at times in papering rooms 
in some of the old houses, where they are not properly 
trued, and where, sometimes, even the doors and win- 
dow frames are out of plumb. He has to so plan the 
hanging of the paper that it may partly hide these de- 
fects; as he could not follow the door frames in their 
wobbling. Under such conditions never use stripe pa- 
per nor paper showing a prominent geometrical design, 
as much as possible select paper having a design with 
little striking features on it. 

226. Borders come in half strips ,whole strips, and 
again in any number of strips to the width of the roll. 
These smaller borders are used mainly in decorative 
paper hanging, in panels, etc. Dropped ceilings usually 
have a picture molding nailed on at the point of June- 



326 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

tion of the side wall paper proper, but there are imi- 
tations of these now made in paper and many use it 
in place of the real molding. In most rooms the wide 
borders or friezes are usually hung where the ceiling 
and sidewall come together or on half-strip dropped 
ceilings, just below that. 

There are several ways of hanging borders, the 
most usual is to cut the border up into lengths just 
about wide enough for the paper hanger to fit on the 
last one hung, and to reach as far as his other hand ■ 
can brush it on the wall with the smoothing brush from 
the top of a step ladder, which is then moved on for the 
hanging of the next stretch. 

Another way: Where there is a walking board to 
reach from one side of a room to another, or where 
a scaffold has been put up permitting to go all round 
the room, which is to have the border trimmed on both 
sides with a machine trimmer ; to paste it, folding it in 
short folds six to eight inches wide, one fold on top 
of another, the folds being carried in the left hand, the 
right fits the border at its beginning, and with the 
smoothing brush, brush the border tightly to the wall, 
the left hand letting out the folds as desired to the end. 
Where a ceiling is straight and the proper walking fa- 
cilities exist this is much the best way as no laps are 
shown — but good work can be done by either way. 

227. Hanging burlap requires a little more care all 
the way through than wall paper does. It is much 
heavier than the heaviest of paper and niiist be butt- 



Modern' Painter's Cyclopedia 327 

edged. Both selvedges must be knife-trimmed as they 
are more or less dirty. This should be done with a 
very sharp knife in order to get a clean cut, without rag- 
ged edges, which would prevent the two edges coming 
closely together. It will be well to read over the direc- 
ti-ons given in Paragraph 224 as to the painting of a 
strip under the junction point where the two edges 
come together so as to prevent any of the plaster show- 
ing in places where an imperfect union is made, either 
through carelessness or, sometimes, unavoidably on ac- 
count of imperfect walls. 

The walls should be sized with glue size in which a 
little brown sugar has been dissolved, or with some 
of the prepared glue sizes made especially for the pur- 
pose. A strong paste should be made into which about 
one ounce of glue to the ordinary pail has been dis- 
solved. 

228. It frequently happens that the ceilings and 
walls of a room become very dirty and smoky, especi- 
ally in our larger cities ; where illuminating gas is used, 
the ceilings will surely become blackened by it and else- 
where the smoke nuisance from the factories will find 
its way to the interior so that in a comparatively short 
time the paper begins to show signs of dinginess. 

Such can be readily cleaned and restored to their 
original brightness nearly by the ''cleaning" process 
given below : Take flour and mix it with water to the 
consistency usual for dough for bread ; then knead into 
it enough plaster paris to make it up into a stiff dough, 



328 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

which will not leave any traces of its component parts 
on the walls. Then go over these with a back and forth 
motion, overlapping each time so that no parts may be 
left untouched. This must be done in a thorough man- 
ner, the hand kneading the dough all the time in order 
to incorporate the dirt on the wall into it. The ball 
will become pretty black in time, but as long as the dirt 
is well worked into it, it will not soil the paper. If the 
rooms are very dirty and large, it may be well to 
change occasionally and to prepare another clean ball 
of dough, as it is inexpensive and can be quickly pre- 
pared. 

The market is full of patented wall paper cleaners, 
but none will do the work any better than the one in- 
dicated above. 

Dirty wall paper can also be cleaned with the inside of 
fresh bread which has first been kneaded into a ball in 
the same manner as described for the flour dough, leav- 
ing out the plaster paris. This is employed by many 
cleaners and there is but little difference between the 
two. 

QUESTIONS ON PAPER HANGING. 

217. What is said of paper hanging in general? 

218. What condition should the walls be in for pa- 
per hanging? 

219. How are walls prepared for hanging wall pa- 
per? 

220. How are wooden partitions prepared? 

221. How is paper trimmed? 



Modern Painter^s Cyclopedia 329 

222. How is paste prepared? 

22^. How should the paste be applied? 

224. How are the ceiHngs hung? 

225. How are the side walls hung? 

226. How are the borders hung? 

227. How is burlap applied to walls ? 

228. How is smoked and dirty wall paper cleaned? 

painter's tools and appliances. 

229. Painter's tools may be divided into two 
classes : First, those which are required for the appli- 
cation of the paint, and, secondly, the tools and appli- 
ances necesary for the painter to get at his work with 
with ease and safety. 

Many of the tools belonging to the first class were 
reviewed under the heading of "Brushes," for which 
see Paragraphs 15 to 30, and those are the most import- 
ant of that class ; the rest, which will be noticed below, 
are merely adjuncts of these — to take care of them, 
etc. Some few are indispensible but several could be 
dispensed with by the use of others equally as well 
fitted as they are to do the part wanted of them. So 
that a proper substitute may replace any of them, with- 
out the painting being made to suffer for it. 

230. Brush keepers are of this character. Brushes 
are expensive and must be taken care of as otherwise 
they will not last long nor work as well as they should.- 

Really any empty vessel wherein a brush can be hung, 
but not laid, suspended so that the hair will be sur- 



330 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



rounded by water, linseed oid or varnish, according 
to the character of the brush — but in which the brush 
will not touch the bottom, will make a brush keeper for 
ordinary brushes used in house painting. A wooden 
pail can have wires driven into its sides, forming an ex- 
tended projection on the inside and upon them may be 
hung the brushes after having had a hole bored into 
their handles at a proper height, which will keep them 
from touching the bottom. Or a stout wire may be put 
through the center to which can be fastened a spiral 
spring coil of wire of sufficient strength to hold up the 
brushes where they are placed into it. The last is still 
better, as no hole need be bored into the brush handles. 
Under Fig. 66, following, is shown a brush keeper 
made somewhat upon the above described plan but a 
galvanized iron pail is used instead. 




Fig. 66 — Brush Keeper. 

Under the heading "Carriage Painting," a cheap and 
efficient varnish brush keeper is described which is 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



331 



used as an individual keeper, as all good varnish brushes 
should be, and under the following Fig, 67 is shown one 
where several can be hung together and kept free from 




Fig. 67 —Paint Brush Holder. 

dirt and dust. It has a false bottom, where all dirt 
can settle. 

231. Under Fig. 68 is shown what is known as 
painter's tinware, consisting of a calcimine strainer, cal- 
cimine pail and a paint strainer, with a pot to use paint 

PAINTERS' TIN WARE. 






Paint Palls. 



Paint Strainera 



from — this last holds one gallon and has no ears stick- 
ing up at its sides to catch brush and paint. 



S32 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

A wire should be soldered on about one-third of the 
way across the top, to wipe any surplus paint off the 
brush and to keep its sides clean; or a handy contri- 
vance can be bought ready made which can be put on or 




Fig. 69. 

taken off at will — in a moment — which is still better, 
as it permits the cleaning of the pots without any inter- 
ference with the wire. This handy affair is shown in 
Fig. 69. 

232. Under Fig. 70 is shown a sanding bellows 




Fig. 70. 

which will be found a time saver over the crude and 
primitive way of throwing it on either by hand or with 
the old fashioned sandthrower. Besides it will soon 
pay for itself in the cost of material saved by its use. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



333 



233. Scraping knives in various sizes and shapes 
to suit any reasonable desire are shown in Fig. 71. and 





B 




Fiy. 71 — Painter's Scrapers. 



334 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



Fig. y2 which show an equal variety of stiff and elastic 
putty knives. 






D 




Fig. 72 — Painter's Putty Knives. 



Some triangular putty knives are made but one can 
grind them better to suit such bevels as are desired. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



335 



234. Fig. 73 shows a gasoline torch to burn off 
paint with. It is an indispensible tool to have and 
should have a place in every well regulated paint shop, 
as it will save money over any other method that can be 
used in removing old paint over large surfaces. 




Fig, 73. 

235. There are, no doubt, a number of other time 
saving and helpful devices which are being used in 
many paint shops besides the ones enumerated above, 
still be incomplete. Those reviewed cover about the 
most essential and the list of such could be increased 
indefinitely and whole field of the ones that are neces- 
sary to do good work with. 

236. The next class of tools are in reality more ap- 
pliances useful to get at the painting; but are as es- 
sential to the painting trade as those of the former 
class. 

237. Ladders stand first in the list as they are the 
most important and are required by all painters to 
get at their work. These come in many forms and vari- 
eties suitable to certain situations or to do a certain 



336 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



kind of work. The ordinary short length single ladders 
are too well known to require illustrating. They run 
iTom 10 feet upward in 2 feet graduations to 20 feet. 

All ladders should be made of light but strong Nor- 
way pine sides with hickory rungs screwed into them. 




Fig. 74. 

241. Fig. 74 illustrates the better grades of exten- 
sion ladders and the way they fasten together. They 
are made in two lengths from 26 to 38 feet, and usually 
in three lengths, from 40 feet upward. 

Choose them with rollers as these assist in pushing 
them upward. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



337 



242. Fig. 75 shows the block and falls. Like the 
ladder, it can scarcely be dispensed with even in two or 
three-story buildings, as they save so much time in 
moving ladders besides being so much more conveni- 
ent to do work from than ladders. They are indispensa- 
ble for all buildings over three stories high. The rig- 
ging consists of two double blocks for the top and of 
two single blocks for the bottoms. The ropes should be 
of the very best manilla not less than }i inch thick, but 




Fig. 75. 



Ji or even one inch is better and certainly safer, espe- 
cially for long falls. A platform 18 to 22 feet long and 
two supports for same, which also serve to hook on 
the single blocks, and which have a wheel fitted in one 
end to roll down against the building sides without in- 
juring them. Two large Swedish iron roof hooks into 
which the double blocks are fastened complete the 
"swing scaffold," as it is best known in many localities. 
It seems superfluous to say that nothing but the best of 



338 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

material should enter into their construction, as life and 

limb are in constant jeopardy while they are being used. 

243. Fig. 76 shows the ladder jacks of which there 

are a number of various shapes and forms, differing 



PATENT PENDING 




Fig. 76, 



but little, however, as to efficiency if well made from 
good, soft charcoal iron. Two pf/these make one set. 
They are placed on two ladders and a walking plank 
put between them, resting on the jacks, making a bridge 




Fig. 77. 

between the ladders from which the painting can be 
done. 

244. Fig. yy shows a roof ladder. This is attached 
to the end rungs of a ladder and then it can be thrown 
over the roof ridge which holds it firmly in place. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 339 

245. For inside painting, good strong, well braced 
step ladders are needed of various sizes from three 
feet upward. A poor step ladder is dear at any price 
and none should be too good if life and limb is worth 
anything to the men who have to use them. Some of 
the flimsy traps for eternity sold in many stores because 




Fig. 78. 

they are cheap may do for some ruralist to go up to 
glory with, but the painter has no use for them. Fig. 
78 shows one that is well braced and which will not 
wiggle. 

246. Painter's trestles are double ladders joined 
together at the top and which when spread out brace 
each other, making a solid support for walking planks 



340 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



to be set upon two of these, which make one set. Fig. 
79 shows a pair supporting an extension walking board, 
an ingenious contrivance enabHng the workman to 
lengthen or shorten it to suit the situation and side of 




Fig. 79. 

the room where they are used. When done with, the 
board can be compactly drawn together. 




Fig. 80. 

247. Fig, 80 illustrates a plank supporter which is 
very useful in interior work as it can be placed where 
ladders cannot be set up or anywhere a board can 
be set up. It fastens itself to any sized board that will 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



341 



go through its jaws and at any height desired upon it 
and gives a firmer support to the walking board which 
may rest upon it and a step ladder. 

243. Under Fig. 81 is shown an adjustable scaffold- 





Fig. 81 — Paperhanger's Table. 

ing jack which should be extensively used, as they will 
save much time and money by doing with a few sets 



342 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



what would require a large number of old fashioned 
"horses" needed to support walking planks for the . 
painting and decorating of interiors of buildings. They 
are made in three sizes, ranging from the lowest — 3 
feet — to a possible extension of 1 1 feet for the highest. 
249. Fig. 82 illustrates a shop paint mill which is 
an excellent piece of machinery for every paint shop to 
be equipped with. While it may not be considered as ab- 




Fig. 82. 

solutely necessary as now all pigments can be bought 
ground in oil cheaper and better ground than one can do 
it for himself. When the mill is handy it would pay to 
run it through many a mixture, which would be the bet- 
ter for having been put through the mill. 

The above comprises all that is required to get at 
any work to be painted either upon the exterior or in- 
terior of buildings. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 343 

QUESTIONS ON PAINTEr's TOOLS AND APPLIANCES. 

229. How many classes of painter's tool are there? 

230. What are brush keepers? 

231 to 249. Should be used to refer to. 

PIGMENTS. 

250. Pigment is a synonym of color. As under 
that heading every pigment of any value and its pe- 
culiarities, antipathies, etc., are treated upon fully, the 
reader is referred to Paragraphs 61 to 84 for the in- 
formation required concerning them. 

SCENE PAINTING. 

251. Scene painting is an attractive branch of the 
trade and calls for considerable artistic ability, requir- 
ing special study and which if an individual once makes 
it a success, generally becomes a lifetime calling. 

The painting of theatrical scenery, drop curtains, 
wings, etc., is usually done in water colors as it looks 
much better in that medium than when executed in 
flatted oil colors. Distemper dries perfectly flat and 
dead, which is hard to get from oil work as so much 
of the work has to be brushed over and over again, 
which would make it shiny in places. Were it even 
posible to make the oil painting look as good in the 
flat as the water color (iocs, it would not have any ad- 
vantage over it. To make the oil painting look as flat 
as the water colors would require them to be thinned 
altogether with turpentine; then it would not be as 
well bound as the water colors are, for these have a 



344 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

strong glue binding which will hold it on well, while the 
all-turpentine colors would dust off after a thorough 
drying from the rolling up and down of the scenes. 

252. A scene painter should know many things 
more than is required in most branches of the painting 
trade in order to be able to represent whatever is re- 
quired truly and naturally. 

He must possess an ultimate knowledge of colors, 
not only such as all decorative painters should have, but 
also of their effects upon the vision at great distances 
from the object painted, and also of the effect that gas 
and other artificial lights have upon them. He must 
know beforehand what effects the blending of the colors 
will be when seen from the audience ; for this blending 
will appear very much different to the man in the back 
part of the balcony than it will to the man on the stage 
even in daylight when there is no artificial light to 
change the color of the pigments, so he must be able 
to arrange his coloring schemes entirely different from 
what they look to be from the spot where the painting 
is done. This study of distant effects must be acquired 
beforehand or the finished work will be a failure from 
the artistic standpoint at least. 

He should also make a study of the effect of gas and 
other artificial lights, as has been already intimated. 
For if he does not possess an intimate knowledge of 
these effects upon the various colors, some of them he 
will find so much changed as to be hardly recognizable 
at night. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 345 

It goes without the saying it that he must be a good 
off-hand designer or he will be apt to put out caricatures 
where such are not in demand. It is, of course, ex- 
pected that every decorator should have a good knowl- 
edge of drawing, but the scenic painter's must be of a 
higher character than that of any of the others. The 
eyes of the whole audience is focused, as it were, upon 
his work during most of the play and every portion of it 
will be examined and any fault in the details or incon- 
gruous coloring wil be noted and commented upon. 
Much of which would pass unnoticed in ordinary pic- 
torial work, which one examines at a close range, and 
where the observation is not constant, as it is apt to be 
from the audience to the stage. 

253. The material needed for scenic painting com- 
prises nearly everything in the line of pigments that 
can be used in water colors besides glues to bind them 
on, metallic leaves such as Dutch metal, aluminum, 
silver leaf, and, sometimes even gold leaf, the metallic 
foils, tinsels, bronzes, flitters, brocades, with the various 
liquid sizings required for their application. 

Whiting is the principal color used for either paint- 
ing white or as a base upon which to build up light tints 
of any colors or by mixing in small quantities with these 
to render them more opaque. The mixing of tints also 
requires a greater knowledge of effects of colors than is 
necessary for decorators whose work is examined at 
close range. So the scenic artist in preparing his tints 
is forced to make them much stronger than is required 



346 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

for nearby work. At first he will be very likely to err 
in making his contrasts too weak, although they may 
appear unusually strong to him from the painting floor. 
As in the course of time the scenic artist will make use 
of nearly every pigment known, the reader is referred 
to paragraphs 6i to 84 regarding any information he 
may require concerning these. In subsequent para- 
graphs will be given a list of colors best suited to pro- 
duce certain effects and for certain purposes. 

To lay out the design of a scene nothing better than 
good French charcoal crayons will be found as the lines 
can be whipped out with a flogger while chalk lines will 
not always be easily effaced, retaining a faint outline, 
which is anything but desirable and which are mortify- 
ing when appearing upon otherwise well done work. 

254. Glue is the material used as the binding ma- 
terial for the water colors. It is a matter of the first 
importance than that it should be of the best quality 
and of light color, at least for all light tints or colors 
with clear tones, otherwise the darker glues would 
change it or muddy it. The best glues to use are the 
thin-flaked ones known as calcimine glue. The ones of 
an ivory tone, nearly clear but not quite so, which are 
tough and do not break off short with an easy frac- 
ture, are the best. Avoid the opaque-looking white 
flaked glues; they might possibly be all right, but the 
chances are that they have been weighted down with 
some adulterating make-weight stuff. This can easily 
be ascertained by soaking the glue, melting it, diluting 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 347 

it with water and letting it stand awhile as this white 
stuff will be precipitated down to the bottom of he 
vessel. 

Glue should be of the consistency of a trembling jelly 
to mix with the colors, but should be melted and mixed 
hot or at least warm enough so as not to jell ; so, when 
trying a new kind it will be well to weigh it, soak it in 
cold water over night, and melt it with the usual quan- 
tity of hot water and set it aside to jell ; if it is about as 
thick as usual, it shows that the glue is about of the same 
strength — if it jells any weaker, then it shows lack of 
strength. It is well to weigh out any quantity of the 
glue needed as then the average quantity of water used 
ordinarily, proportionate to the weight can be added 
to it and the glue water kept up to a uniform strength. 

Good glue will take up seventeen to eighteen times 
its own weight of water while soaking up over night 
and will swell to many times its former bulk, so the 
package should be much larger than needed to hold the 
dry glue. The amount of water absorbed is of itself a 
very good indication of the value of a glue, as poor glue 
has not as great absorbing power as the better kinds 
have. 

The glue water should not be much stronger than 
that of a trembling jelly, for there is danger that if it 
be made much stronger of the colors showing up shiny 
when they dry. Again, one should guard against the 
opposite danger of having it too weak to bind the colors 
sufficiently to hold them on well. 



348 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

255. The tools used in scenic painting do not differ 
materially from those used by other decorators. . 

For the sizing of canvas and the layin in of ground 
colors a good calcimine brush 6 or 7 inches wide make 
an excellent tool. 

For the laying in of large bodies of color 2, 3 and 
4 inches flat, double varnish bristle brushes with a few 
assorted sizes of oval chisel pointed sash tools will suf- 
fice. 

A few dozens of round, flat, triangular, long and 
short fresco bristle lining brushes will be needed as 
nearly all the details of the decorative work as well as 
the lining up will be done with these. No finer 
brushes will be needed, such as artists' or decorators' 
camel's hair pencils, as the work must be coarsely done 
and the bristle fresco liners are good and small enough 
for any purpose. Some of the leaves, grass, etc., can 
and must be done with the sash tools and even larger 
brushes. 

Pallet knives and a marble slab and stone muller to 
grind down coarse colors with which cannot be ob- 
tained ready ground in distemper as is sometimes the 
case in the smaller towns. The above will not apply in 
the larger cities, where usually all colors can be bought 
ground up in distemper. It is true that many colors 
can be procured ground fine dry; such should be 
bought in that way as they are cheaper and answer as 
as well as those ground in distemper, but many are too 
coarse in their dry state and must be ground with the 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 349 

muller where it is impossible to buy them properly 
ground. 

Straight edges with beveled edges of various sizes 
such as fresco painters use in lining are needed, some 
longer ones for laying out a level and plumb bob, T 
squares and triangles, large wooden leg dividers, chalk 
and chalk lines ; also some charcoal for chalk line. Flog- 
gers to whip out charcoal marks and a palette board to 
hold colors. This palette board naturally must be made 
upon an entirely different plan than the common flat 
form of the ordinary one. It must be made with an 
edge on three sides to retain the cups into which the 
colors are put. Some advise a complicated affair with 
compartments in it to hold the colors in, but they give 
much trouble to clean. If a compartment becomes dirty 
the rest may need no cleaning; it is next to impossible 
to do it properly. The better way is to have tin vessels 
of proper size which can be lifted out singly as needed 
and the raised edge will keep them from slipping off 
the board when the palette is tilted up, as it sometimes 
requires to be. The vessel holding the glue water 
should be of different shape so as to be easily recog- 
nized and it will be well to have three or four of them 
so that the brushes used in different groups of color may 
not muddy it up and render it unfit for use for colors of 
a different tone. 

The above are the principal tools needed for doing 
the work ; no doubt that many more might be added to 
the list but it is possible to do the best of work with the 



350 Modem Painter's Cyclopedia 

ones mentioned. In the following paragraph will be 
described a few appliances necessary for the proper 
equipment of a scenic studio. 

256. The location of a studio is very important to 
the professional scenic painter. The amateur who only 
has an occasional job to do will have to necessarily con- 
tent himself with such accomodations as he may find in 
an ordinary paint shop, but the latter are unhandy for 
such work and they will be much hampered in getting 
at their work as they will have to do the painting from 
cramped and uncomfortable positions, which usually 
tell more or less upon the quality of the work done. 
Few ordinary paint shops have ceilings of sufficient 
height to accomodate the frame of a large scene or 
of a drop curtain. Even in many of the theatres and 
opera houses there are no special arrangements made 
for the painting or repairing of scenery, although the 
majority of the newer built ones have arrangements 
made for this at the back part of the building. 

The studio, however, which is built with a special 
view of being used as a workshop where scenic painting 
is to be the exclusive business carried on should be 
built according to the requirements needed for the 
speediest and easiest methods of executing the work. 
The building should be three ordinary stories in height 
and should be well lighted on the top floor where all 
the painting is done. The lighting should all come 
from above, from skylights in the roof, as only untraip- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 351 

meled, direct light will do and no side light should be 
allowed, so that the third story will be windowless. 

The floor itself should be so built that it will not 
touch the walls around the room by about twelve inches, 
leaving an empty space of that width all around it. The 
same arrangement should be carried out upon the sec- 
ond floor, too. This will permit of the largest sized 
scenery and drop curtains to be raised and lowered at 
will from the top to the bottom on the first floor. It 
is needless to say that the second and first floors may 
have as many windows as may be desirable for them 
to have, as no painting will need to be done on those 
floors. 

The top floor must be equipped with machinery to 
raise or lower scenes quickly and there are several pat- 
ented capstan-like rolling machines which do the work 
handily and quickly. But any handy carpenter can 
readily make up a homemade affair that will do the 
work nearly as well as the others and at much less cost. 
The above arrangements will enable the scene painter 
to stand erect at his work in executing the painting. 
Being secure and feeling so on a solid floor, this as- 
surance will enable him to do twice as much work or 
more with greater ease to himself than he could possibly 
do in any other manner. 

257. The amateur will be under many disadvan- 
tages in doing his work, but frequently special scenery 
is wanted in the smaller towns where there are no fa- 
cilities provided other than such makeshifts as may be 



353 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

found. The painter should secure a place high and 
wide enough to accommodate the frame upon which the 
canvas or muslin upon which the scenery is to be 
painted, will be stretched. This canvas should be a 
few inches wider and longer each way than the size of 
the finished scene is to be. It should be evenly stretched 
upon the frame and all wrinkles removed, then securely 
tacked on, when it will be ready for the sizing. 

The sizing should be ratlfcer stout. Soak glue of a 
good quality until it has absorbed all the water it is 
capable of, then melt it over a slow fire and in the pro- , 
portion of about one gallon of water to eight ounces of 
dry glue so that one pound will make about an ordinary 
i2-quart pail full of sizing when melted; then proceed 
to apply this size to the cloth on the frame but do not 
touch the size to within one inch of where it is tacked 
on to the frame, leaving one inch of it unsized all the 
way around the frame (top, sides and bottom being left 
unsized for one inch) . This is very important as other- 
wise the cloth would not dry evenly but wrinkled and it 
would be very difficult to take them up even after re- 
tacking it over ; in fact it could hardly be done while the 
unsized cloth on the frame and the inch of it left unsized 
will take up the strain and the cloth will dry evenly and 
tight. 

When dry, proceed to fill the cloth or canvas with a 
good, solid coat of whiting, which has been strongly 
sized with glue water. This coat should be well worked 
in, cross brushed and laid off, so as to insure a perfectly 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 353 

well covered ground to work upon. If this ground 
coat has not been properly done there will be trouble 
afterwards in doing it over, besides loading the canvas 
with the unnecessary weight of another which will 
make further trouble in causing suction so that the 
painting of the details of the scene will be more difficult 
than over one coat ground well done. 

258. The painting proper of the scene is very much 
the same as that of any other similar kind of decorative 
work either in perspective, lineal or free hand painting 
and will present no great difficulty, especially to one 
v/ho is used to free hand decoration in distemper, that 
is, at least, in so far as putting on the colors goes, as that 
is about the same ; in fact it is less difficult in that there 
is no great preciseness required — but the very seeming 
freedom and carelessness in the execution of daubing 
on the painting is all calculated upon and the results of 
it are as well known in the mind of the scenic artist as 
the most precise is to the decorator who paints for 
near-by effects. This very coarseness is discounted be- 
forehand with a full knowledge of certain effects it will 
produce at a distance and the seeming carelessness is 
all in the eye of the onlooker. 

Scene painting has to' be made bold and the colors 
must be put on strong without regard as to their looks 
in the immediate vicinity. Colors at a distance blend 
together so that if they are gradually shaded as for 
work which is to be closely seen, they would appear very 
tame either not shaded at all or as a solid shade or tone 



354 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

of one color all blended into one. For the same reason 
the details too must be put on much stronger colors than 
for near-by painting. This requires quite a study of 
distant effects and all amateurs are timid and afraid of 
going too far — they have to catch on to it gradually 
when experience will teach them to become more bold 
in the use of strong coloring and every mistake made 
becomes an instruction which will eventually make the 
amateur's work better on the next job he undertakes 
after he has noted the tameness of the combination used. 

There is another phase in the painting of scenery 
which will give beginners trouble at first and that is the 
changed appearance of some colors under artificial light 
such as gas, kerosene or gasoline illumination and in a 
lesser degree under electric lighting. In a subsequent 
paragraph is given a list of colors to use to produce the 
best effects for the painting of various shades and for 
special purposes which will look well under artificial 
light. The combinations can be made from such as are 
named to suit the ideas of the painter. 

259. Colors can be used either opaque or transpar- 
ent when they are naturally so. Some of the transpar- 
ent ones can be made more opaque by the addition of 
whiting, but it will somewhat change the tone making 
them a little lighter, so it must not be over done. If a 
full deep opaque tone is wanted of a naturally transpar- 
ent color, it will have to be made by mixing several pig- 
ments together that will produce a similar color to the 
one desired. To explain : If a solid burnt sienna brown 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 355 

is desired, the natural burnt sienna being transparent 
and as whiting would reduce its depth, it should be made 
artificially from solid and opaque colors and a similar 
color made from Venetian red, ochre and black and this 
would be solidly opaque. 

The blues seem to give the most trouble of any as 
most of them appear greenish under artificial light. 
Some of the ultramarines have a greenish tone even in 
daylight and when used should be very carefully se- 
lected as the true blue shades of it are after all the best 
blues to use in making up blue tints for scene painting. 

The chrome yellows become much lighter under gas 
light so that the painting done with those yellows must 
be made much deeper if the scene is to be used where 
the lighting is done with gas. 

259. Purples are readily made by mixing some of 
the blue and Indian red taken from the palette and 
mixed on the mixing board to which can be added whit- 
ing to produce the shade of it wanted. 

Where considerable color of one tint is wanted as for 
skies, etc., it is better to prepare it ready for use in a 
separate can or pot. 

For skies — they should be first put on with the solid 
color and then the brush can be dipped in this and that 
color and applied where wanted, and blended in while 
wet and as many variations produced as wanted. 

Foliage greens should not be made from chrome 
green as these contain chrome yellow and under gas- 
light would appear much lighter toned; besides, that 



356 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

no good foliage green can be made from them as they 
are too positive. They are best made from ochres, raw 
sienna, Prussian bkie and glazed with some green lake 
where a rich effect is desired. The chrome yellow may 
be used but they must be made deeper in order to pro- 
duce the effect wanted and this would look unnatural by 
day light. 

For clouds mix verditer and orange chrome. For 
cold gray clouds add a litle black. For lights in clouds 
mix yellow ochre and madder lake, or any other good 
crimson lake, or yellow ochre and orange chrome. 

For sea zvatcr use Dutch pink alone or raw sienna 
and black Prussian blue. Water reflects the color of 
the skies and the image and coloring of near-by objects 
such as houses, trees, etc. 

For moonlight skies a good tint is made from ver- 
diter or indigo or its equivalent in Prussian blue and 
black, lightened up with whiting. For clouds add black 
and more blue. 

For rocks, stone, etc., raw and burnt sienna, In- 
dian red, chrome greens and black, vandyke brown, ul- 
tramarine, rose pink and ochres. Black and Venetian 
red toned down with a little whiting makes a good stone 
color for many purposes. 

For distant foliage, Dutch pink alone or raw sienna 
and black, or raw sienna and a trifle of Prussian blue. 

Gold tones are best made from ochres and Dutch 
pink, raw sienna and Vandyke brown. For the lights 



Modern Painter^s Cyclopedia S5'i' 

use flake white and lemon chrome yellow or medium 
chrome yellow according to the shade of it wanted. 

For trunks of trees and branches according to spe- 
cies and tones desired, Prussian blue, yellow ochre, raw 
and burnt sienna, ultramarine Dutch pink, raw and 
burnt umber and maroon lake for an overglaze. 

For grass the chrome greens in all shades of it, using 
extra light chrome green for the high lights, mixed 
with pale chrome yellow or medium chrome yellow. 

For dead leaves, raw and burnt sienna, raw and burnt 
umber. 

For stone buildings, yellow ochre, raw sienna; raw 
and burnt umber; ultramarine blue, Venetian red and 
black. 

For brick, Venetian red, and for shadows add ultra- 
marine blue. 

For iire reflection use orange mineral. In all the 
above it is understood that whiting is used to make 
proper shades of all the tints wanted. 

In making out the above list all the colors useful in 
making the tints are given — not that all should be 
mixed together, but such should be selected* from them 
to mix the shades wanted. Some of them, as Prussian 
blue, 'lampblacks, etc., are very strong and but little of 
such should be used as little is needed to produce much 
effect. It is better to add several times if needed in 
mixing a tint than to spoil the shade by adding too much 
at the start of making them. It is only by many trials 



358 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

that a beginner can expect to produce proper shades at 
once. All such should carefully try the shades by dry- 
ing them as recommended before. 

QUESTIONS ON SCENE PAINTING. 

251. What material is chiefly used in scene painting 
and why ? 

252. What should a person know in order to be- 
come a scene painter? 

253. What material is chiefly used in scene paint- 
ing? 

254. What is said about glues? 

255. What tools are needed for scene painting? 

256. How should a scene painting studio be ar- 
ranged ? 

257. How should the cloth or canvas be prepared 
for the painting? 

258. How is the painting done? 

259. Give colors required for making the various 
tints. 

SIGN PAINTING. 

260. Signs in some form or another have probably 
been in use as long as commerce has existed, or at least 
some equivalent for it to let people know that at such a 
place something was for sale or exchange. They cer- 
tainly existed and were in use during the Roman em- 
pire, and traces of them have been handed down in an 
unbroken chain ever since. 

During the middle ages before printing, and later 
when universal education had made everybody familiar 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 359 

with the form of letters and with the reading of them, 
most of the signs were of a pictorial character and as 
trades all had trade marks the business was represented 
by that plus some peculiar sign that denoted the in- 
dividuality of the proprietor. Even as late as the mid- 
dle of the nineteenth century, before the introduction of 
forced education, pictorial signs were still largely used. 
Novelists such as Dickens refer to such signs freely in 
their writings, and shops and inns were called after 
and known by the picture represented on their signs. 
Many of the older men living today can well remember 
the practice as it existed in the days of their youth. 
Some of those signs were certainly very crude in the 
drawing and in the painting of the subjects as there 
were botches in those days as well as at the present 
time. But, good or bad, they appealed to the unread 
as well as to the educated and a servant girl told to go 
for something to the sign of the "Lion Head" or to the 
"Three Black Crows" had no need of being told the rest 
in order to know what place was meant. 

Some of the greatest painters in all countries have 
been guilty of painting such signs as favors shown to 
some friendly "hosts" at taverns and elsewhere and 
such, no doubt, must have shown considerable talent in 
the execution. 

But at the present time since everybody can read, 
this fashion is obsolete at least in business houses, lo- 
cations of shops of all kinds of trades, professions or 
manufacturies. But there is still an enormous amount 



360 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

of pictorial sign work done in what is known as "adver- 
tising signs," much more in fact than at any other 
period of the world's existence. 

The idea is as good now as in the older days, as peo- 
ple will read a well displayed advertisement to find out 
what the advertiser has to say about the picture on the 
sign which has riveted their attention, where, otherwise, 
without such aid on account of the multitude of such 
signs they would have passed it by unnoticed. So, it 
can readily be surmised that a general sign painter in 
order to make good in all branches of his business must 
be very versatile and artistic in his knowledge. 

261. Sign painting can be divided into several 
branches : 

1. The commercial, which includes the painting of 
signs upon sign boards to be hung up on buildings or on 
the buildings themselves. It may be in all kinds of oil 
work, plain or shaded, and includes gilded signs on 
wood, but as gilded signs are specially treated upon and 
that it really is a separate branch from oil painted signs 
which many otherwise good sign painters are not fa- 
miliar with, it is entitled to a separate place in the 
describing of it. 

2. Show card painting has become specialized into 
a separate branch and requires training of a different 
order. One stroke muslin sign work, while upon a 
much larger scale, properly belongs to this class of 
work, although much of it is being done by all regular 
sign painting shops. But for the sake of describing 



Modern Painte/s Cyclopedia 361 

under a proper classification it will be noticed under this 
division, which, after all, is and must be arbitrary. 

3. Gilding on glass and gold lettering on wood with 
accessories such as ornamentation of the letter with 
pearl flakes, etc., bronzing, etc. 

4. The advertising signs in all their forms, which 
include pictorial painting, etc. 

Each one of these four artificial divisions of the sign 
painting trade will furnish sufficient variation in the 
use of special skill to keep one pretty busy usually,*-and 
as each also requires a different handling, the specialist 
who makes it his sole business acquires more skill and 
dispatch in doing his work. 

462. The above classification of the trade is an ar- 
tificial one made for the purpose of examination into 
its details. It is also made by the large shops in the se- 
lection of workmen who are kept within the limits de- 
scribed in the classes described in the former paragraph. 

As a matter of fact no such distinctions exist in any 
of our large city shops. They take everything in the 
line of all of the four classes with possibly the ex- 
ception of advertising bulletin work, which is made a 
special business by itself. 

In the country towns, too, the sign painter must be 
able to do any and all kinds demanded as he seldom has 
enough work to employ specialists, and frequently no 
more than he can do himself. So, the general sign 
painter must be able to do a fairly good piece of 
work at the risk of being lowered in the estimation of 



362 Modern Painte/s Cyclopedia 

his customers, if he does not in all branches of the 
business, from the painting of a dainty show card and 
gilding on glass to the painting of a big pictorial sign 
on the broadside of a large barn. 

So it can readily be seen that a general sign painter 
must possess a high class of knowledge. To be 
successful and a good workman, the sign painter must 
be a good judge of distances and possess an ac- 
curate vision in order to save time in laying out a sign 
within a given number of feet and to balance it properly. 
He must be able to judge at a glance what sort of letters 
will work best for the various situations of a sign and 
right for any kind of business as all are not equally 
adapted for all alike. When his work is to be sur- 
rounded with dozens of others he must be able to give 
his own sufficient individuality, that passers-by will no- 
tice it and that it may not be confounded with the rest. 

He must be able to draw accurately and to scale and 
also be well versed in perspective for a truthful repre- 
sentation of buildings and machinery upon wagon cov- 
ers and advertising sign boards. He must be a good 
judge of color effects at a distance and for nearby ones, 
sign painter must be able to do a fairly good piece of 
work too, as the job is seen from both near and far. So 
he has to arrange a sort of compromise between the two 
extremes. As much of his work is done upon glass, he 
must be a good gilder not only on wood but glass and 
everything where he is required to work upon. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 363 

263. The material required for doing sign work 
comprises about all the colors known to the house 
painter or decorator not only ground in oil but all the 
water colors, and those ground in japan or varnish for 
wagon work. Besides all sorts and kinds of gold and 
other metal leaves, bronzes, flitters, metallics, etc., for 
show card work and for the latter to be able to squeeze 
out raised letters and ornaments from a plaster paris 
bulb and squeezers, pearl flakes, diamond dust, etc. ; he 
will need nearly all the usual accessories listed in art 
store catalogues at some time or other in the prosecu- 
tion of his business. 

Much of this material will be used but seldom, and 
need not be carried in stock. 

264. The tools required to do sign painting com- 
prise those used by the house painter for the prepara- 
tion of grounds, for the painting of the sign proper, 
and in addition thereto a good assortment of sizes and 
shapes of camel's hair, ox hair and sable lettering 
brushes, from No. i to 12. Some }i, ^2 and i-inch 
camel and ox hair one-stroke flat brushes, which are 
great time savers not only for the making of letters at 
one stroke, as their name indicates, but which are useful 
in all regular sign work as well. He will also need 
striping brushes, gold tips, etc., putty and palette 
knives, charcoal and chalk crayons, ladders, swing stage 
blocks and falls, step ladders, easels and frames to 
stretch muslin signs upon, an air brush for show card 
work, tin pots and strainers, etc., etc. 



364 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

Previous to describing the methods used in doing 
sign work it will be well to give a few general direc- 
tions for the beginner, as these presuppose a knowl- 
edge of making the letters. It will be impossible to give 
a lengthy "expose" of all that a novice will have to go 
through to learn how to paint letters ; time and experi- 
ence is required to make a good workman in the sign 
painting business as well as in any other. But a person 
who is handy with the use of brushes can soon perfect 
himself so that he can do all the ordinary sorts of sign- 
work, and gradually work himself up to a higher de- 
gree of excellence upon the more intricate parts of the 
trade. 

The best practice the novice can have is to make 
straight perpendicular lines equidistant from each other 
— then horizontal ones and slanting ones at all angles 
and in both directions. When he can make them 
straight, equidistant and successively so any number of 
times, and when he has practised on curves and re- 
curves so he can reproduce them consecutively at will, 
too — he has mastered the sign painting trade. A solid 
week or two, ten hours a day, at that kind of work will 
do it. It may be monotonous and may become disgust- 
ing, but there is nothing like it to learn fast. All 
letters resolve themselves into straight lines and curves 
so that the time which is seemingly wasted enables a be- 
ginner really to form any letter at sight when he is mas- 
ter of his straight line strokes and curves. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 365 

Letters are not all of the same width, nor will all 
letters look well separated from each other by an equal 
spacing as in print. The painter can usually arrange 
his spacing so as to balance up any deficiency, excepting 
where two open topped letters come following each 
other as an A following an L for instance; the wide 
space looking empty as it will at the top is very hard 
to balance just right. In such a case reducing the width 
of the L will help it some but it must not be to the ex- 
tent of being strikingly so. When an open top letter is 
followed by one with a wider top than its foot as a V or 
Y or a T the top can be extended into the space 
which really belongs to the L if it was square with 
good effect. So can a V following an A trespass upon 
the top space of the A with good effect upon the bal- 
ancing of the wording. Letters with straight line bod- 
ies like an H, N, M, E, R or U should be spaced as near 
equally apart as can be and any of these following an 
open top letter should be set as close to it as can be 
done. An I should have more space allowed between it 
and its neighbors than any other, or it may be con- 
founded with another adjoining straight-bodied letter; 
the curved letters as O, Q or B, R, and P can be set a tri- 
fle closer to a straight-bodied letter than two straight- 
bodied letters can. If the above directions are followed 
in spacing there will be little trouble in balancing the let- 
ters in a word properly — so that they will look at their 
best. 



366 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

As the letters for all kinds of sign work are nearly 
the same in their formation it will be well to notice them 
here once for all, the proper allowance of size, etc., being 
made by the reader for the different kinds of work. 

With all the innumerable styles of letters which one 
can see in a type foundry catalogue, aside of Old Eng- 
lish or German text and Script, the whole of them are 
simply variations of two primary styles of letters. 

The Roman with its make-up of fine and heavy bodied 
lines is the author of all such with or without extend- 
ing spurs and the heavy bodied block is also the proto- 
type of all such with or without extending spurs, thick 
or thin, shaded or unshaded. 

There has been a number of off hand nondescript 
styles of letters which have had a season or two at the 
most of faddish popularity, which certainly cannot 
claim any relationship to the two standard styles de- 
scribed. They make diffcult reading and one might as 
well have a sign written in Egyptian hieroglyphics or 
Turkish as a mongrel type which has to be studied over 
before it can be made out. Life is too short for people 
to waste much of it in solving puzzles and then there is 
a general return to the standard styles and its numerous 
variations, which are certainly plentiful enough to suit 
almost any taste. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 367 

Below are shown a few of the leading styles and 
their modifications : Fig. 83 shows a pure style of Ro- 

MODES 

Fig. 83. 

man in a proportion where they show their elegant 
form to good advantage although the Roman type looks 
very well in an extended form even very much wider 
than it is high. On the reverse when Roman type is 
narrowed up, as in Fig. 84, it loses some of its beauty 

MERCER 

Fig. 84. 

and at a distance becomes less distinct. 

Roman lower case is shown in Fig. 85 and it, too, 

repairing 



Fig. 85. 



possesses the same beauty of form as its capitals. While 
signs in several lines usually look best in various styles 
of letters for each line, or at least for every other one, 



368 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

Roman capitals and lower case may be used alone and 
give a very neat result, as shown in Fig. 86. 

This Desirable 

RESIDENCE 

t o be Le t. 

For particulars 
apply to 



Fiff. 86. 



It was Stated before that all other styles were simply 
variations of the Roman and block, so in Fig. 8y is 

MAKER 

Fig. 87. 

given an illustration of such variation, and in Fig. 88 
another shaded where the modification is still stronger 
but where the original type can be plainly seen. 




Fig. 88 



Modem Painter's Cyclopedia 369 

In Fig. 89 is shown the other standard form from 
which all other thick-bodied letters sprang from. Fig. 

MAKEI 

Fig. 89. 

90 is probably a better sample of it as bemg less elonga- 
ted, but its lines are proportionately much thinner than 

MAPS 

Fig. 90. 

Fig. 89, and this will answer to show some of the many 
variations in the type. In Fig. 91 the above type some- 

xXaX 



Fi^. 91. 



370 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

what mingled with a spray of Roman is shown with 
extended spurs, and in Fig. 92 and Fig. 93 is shown a 

DENT 



Fig. 92. 



HOUSE 

Fig. 93. 

thicker bodied letter and an elongated one of the same 
order. Many styles of letters are compounds of the two 
main ones so that it is sometimes difficult to tell to 
which they belong the most, as Figs. 92 and 95. 

DRAPER 

Fig. 94. 

CASE 

Fig. 95. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 371 

Fig. 96. 
Fig. 97. 

Old English is shown in Figs. 96 and 97. It is ele- 
gant, too, in form with its succession of thin and heavy 
lines and is frequently used in church text on account 
of its gothic form with which form religion has cast a 
hallow of sacredness. 

Script is extensively used in sign painting. It may 
be any style of letter desired, all of them look well. 
Some of the signatures of the proprietors for whom the 

Good 
Stabling 



Fig. 98. 



372 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



signs are painted sometimes have them imitated upon 
them. All script signs look neat. Fig. 98 shows one 
style which is largely used, and Fig. 99 shows one 
which is continuous as in actual writing. 

Rustic letters are very appropriate for many situa- 




Fig. 99. 

tions and trades, as for gardeners and florists, etc. ; an 
illustration is given of such in Fig. 100. 

267. Shading letters improves them very much if 
properly done and renders them more attractive if the 
coloring is in good taste. Where shading looks at its 
best, there must be no crowding in the spacing but a 




liberal allowance made for the shade, and some over. 
Crowded letters do not look well, shaded. 

In shading letters do not let the shading color come 
close to the letter itself but leave a margin wide enough 
that the ground may show between it and the )etter it- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 373 

self. It should not be too large, but large enough to be 
visible. 

The taste of the painter can be exercised in the selec- 
tion of proper shading colors to suit the location, char- 
acter of the business and the fitness of it for the purpose. 
An undertaker, for instance, should not have his sign 
shaded crimson, neither would it do for the doctor. 
Some sober tones, a compromise between the color of 
the ground and that of the letter always makes a neat 
appearance. 

Double shading in two or more colors is often re- 
sorted to to produce showy signs. 

Probably the neatest effect in shading is to use a 
darker shade of the same color for the underside or 
under parts of the lettering. This gives it a block effect 
which is absent from shading done in one solid color, 
and as shading is done to give an impression of thick- 
ness to the letters, the shading done in the above man- 
ner will show it much truer and better than a solid shade 
would. 

Shadows are sometimes used to good advantage ; un- 
like a shade it is not placed next to the lettering but 
at a distance from it, but connected with it at the bot- 
tom as the shadow of a man or tree or any standing 
object would appear from a given angle. Lettering 
may be outlined with some other color in either thick 
or thin lines all around them and variegated, or the 
bodies painted in two or more colors with or without 
ornaments upon the body. When properly done, this 



374 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

kind of work looks well for certain kinds of signs, but 
to be in taste, it must be suitable to the business or it 
will soon be an eyesore of which the owner will soon 
tire. 

The above directions, it is hoped, will suffice to 
enable the novice who has been reading this to do a 
creditable piece of work if he has familiarized himself 
with the proper formation of letters, and as this advice 
is applicable to all kinds of sign painting from a show 
card to a mammoth bulletin sign no further reference 
as to how to do the work will be made in what follows 
except in so far as a dififerent application of the rules 
given may necessitate further explanations. 

268. The painting of signs on sign boards or on 
wooden, brick or stone buildings may well form a sec- 
tion by itself, and as this forms a branch of the trade 
which gives more employment in all its varieties than 
all the others put together — with the exception of ad- 
vertising bulletin signs (which will be treated sepa- 
rately), it is well worth the closest attention. 

If the sign is to be painted upon a board in the shop 
or upon a building, they should be primed as recom- 
mended for exterior house painting by using nearly 
clear linseed oil (raw) with just enough white lead 
in it to tint it so that it can be plainly seen when ap- 
plied to the lumber. If upon a sign board, the back of it 
should be thoroughly primed, too, in the same man- 
ner as the front in order to keep the water from soak- 
ing up behind it. The next coat of paint should be 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 375 

given fairly stout, with 54 turpentine mixed with }i 
raw linseed oil for a thinner, ith a very small quan- 
tity of good japan drier added to it. The back part of 
the sign should be coated with this too ; these two coats 
will be enough for the back of the sign, but the front 
should have another rather flatter than the usual out- 
door third coat, because a glare is very undesirable 
for a sign ground. For the better class of sign work it 
is better to give the third coat 2/3 raw linseed oil and 
1/3 turpentine put on rather thick, but brushed out thin 
which will give the board a good, even gloss all over 
it. When still tacky, apply a coat of flat color to it, 
which will be held firmly by the partially dried third 
coat, and then there will be no danger of its giving 
away very soon as the building has in all probability 
been already painted; if the paint is in good condition 
the painting of the sign may have to be done upon it 
just as it is and this very often happens. If a ground 
coat is to be painted upon it for the lettering, give a 
coat of raw linseed oil tinted with the ground coat color 
and when dry it should be given a heavy, well brushed 
outcoat of the ground itself, thinned with half raw oil 
and half turpentine. If the buildings are new and have 
never been painted they should be treated as stated 
under the heading of "Exterior Painting," and the 
space to be occupied by the sign coated over with the 
proper ground for it. This ground space should be 
thinned flatter than the rest of the painting. 



376 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

269. Spacing and balancing a space for the sign is 
where the practiced eye of the professional save him 
much time. Generally speaking, and upon the average, 
each letter is supposed to occupy a given space and for 
the purpose of filling up a line, it is safe to cut up the 
number of inches in the space, making due allowance 
for beginning and ending, also for space between the 
words by the number of inches each letter would oc- 
cupy. The painter will dot off the number of inches to 
be occupied by the separate letters on the sign, keeping 
track of the number of them as he goes. Then he will 
roughly sketch out the space each letter will actually oc- 
cupy, making all necessary corrections as to the varia- 
tions already spoken off as existing between the va- 
rious letters and it will be found that the calculation 
based on the supposition that each shall occupy a similar 
sized square will not be found much out of the way, and 
that if there is an exception to the rule it can very soon 
be adjusted by the next rough sketching of it over, and 
making the proper allowances. 

The professional painter will not need to even count 
out the number of his letter spaces, but will sketch 
out his wording at once and will seldom have to efface 
it to make room for a second sketching as it will be 
sufficiently near right to enable him to proceed with the 
lettering and to correct anything wrong in the sketch- 
ing as he paints it out. The novice, however, should 
not attempt this, as it would be too risky for him, and 
until his vision is so well exercised that he can judge of 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 377 

the right sized letters to make to fill up a given space, 
he should not only roughly sketch the letters but mark 
them out in the exact spot which each is to occupy. In 
that way he will be sure to come out alright. 

If there are several lines of work to be done it will be 
well, especially if the lettering is all done with capitals, 
to change the style of each line somewhat. 

It is usual to paint the name of a firm or person own- 
ing a business in larger letters than the rest of the sign. 
Then the line of business itself should be very promi- 
nently displayed, while the details can be painted in 
much smaller letters than either of the two principal 
ones. 

The styles, shadings, etc., referring to the lettering 
were fully noticed in Paragraph 267. 

270. Show cards and muslin sign painting has come 
to be specialized insomuch at least that men who are 
better skilled in the execution of this kind of work than 
others are usually kept at it in all the larger sign shops. 
As now it is quite the fad to have these made and shaded 
with an air brush, it requires a practical use of this tool 
to do good work with it. Much of it is done in tasty 
colors and dainty use of roman lower case, and some 
show considerable ingenuity in the display made. Mus- 
lin work, likewise, requires a peculiar kind of skill ; not 
that It is more difficult than that of the regular sign 
board work, but that the handling is somewhat different, 
being usually done with one-stroke letter brushes and 
off hand, and requires a different application of the 



378 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

knowledge equal to both — of the proper formation of 
letters. 

Muslin is usually stretched tight upon frames and 
sized, although now muslin can be bought all ready- 
sized, ready to go to work upon it. As time is money 
and the time required to size and stretch ordinary un- 
sized muslin will much more than make up for the cost 
of that ready prepared, this is now practically the only 
kind used for all this kind of work. 

Muslin sign work, being done at one stroke and off 
hand, is very rapidly done by the experienced ones.' 
They are usually employed for hurried work and for a 
temporary purpose, for the announcement of some 
special sale and it is not of so much importance about the 
lasting quality of the work as the looks and speed in 
painting them. In the aggregate, they make up a big 
share of the sign work being done in all sign shops today 
in city or country towns. 

271. Gold signs on wood and glass constitute a class 
of sign work requiring additional skill besides that of 
the ability to form letters properly, which is common 
to all the different branches of the trade. This addi- 
tional skill is that of the proper handling of gold leaf. 
This is not to be acquired in a day, but is the result of 
considerable practice. Some learn it in a much shorter 
time than others, and some never learn it well. Gold is 
so fragile that the least breath will send it flying in all 
directions. But, after all, when its peculiarities are well 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 379 

understood, and the proper care taken, it is n^ such a 
difficult thing to learn how to handle it. 

For the purpose of examination gold sign work will 
be taken up under two headhigs: 

1. Gold signs upon opaque surfaces, such as wood, 
metals or japanned tin, etc., and — 

2. Gilding on glass, where gold instead of being ap- 
plied over a surface as before, is applied under it and 
shows through, requiring a very different method of 
handling in each case. 

272. Wood surfaces, tin (japanned) and painted 
window shade cloth are the surfaces upon which gold 
signs are usually painted ; each requiring much the same 
manipulations in the application of the gold, but some 
variation in preparing the surfaces for the gilding. 

Gold leaf sticks closely to anything that has the least 
greasiness and tackiness; therefore the surface over 
which it is to be applied must be free of the least bit of 
it or else the gold will surely attach itself where it is 
not wanted, and the work spoiled thereby, and it is in 
this respect that the preparation of the surface mainly 
differs between the various surfaces mentioned. 

Signs gilded on wood are usually smalted and when 
that is the case, as the ground is cut in around the letters 
after they have been gilded, it does not make so much 
difference if some of the gold happens to stick to por- 
tions of the boards besides that of the sizing for the let- 
ters as the cutting in of the ground will cover it over; 
if, however, the surface is to be left in the ground color 



380 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

over which the gold is appHed, and no smalt is used as 
is sometimes done when a gold sign or ornaments are 
painted upon a building of wood or stone, then great 
care must be taken that the surface will be in a condition 
that the gold shall not stick to it. 

The only proper surfaces for all gilding which is not 
afterward to be cut in is a dead flat, not an egg shell 
gloss even will do, unless it is first deadened or all its 
stickiness killed. 

The usual method of preparing sign boards to be 
gilded is to give them three coats of paint as noted in 
Paragraph 268. The last coat should be given in a 
dark lead or slate color, so that the black ground to be 
cut in afterward can be plainly seen, and no spots will 
then be missed. The last coat must be as nearly flat as it 
is possible to make it, so that it may be properly bound. 
It should have a full week, at least, for hard drying. 
After it has been sand papered as free of brush marks 
as possible (and this sandpapering should have been 
resorted to after each previous coat), it will be ready 
for the sizing. 

Nothing but an old, fat, oil size is to be used for out- 
side exposed work, as nothing else would be able to 
withstand the ravages of the elements. This fat oil 
can be prepared by any one by exposing linseed oil in 
shallow vessels exposed to air and light for a few 
months. It can be bottled up afterward and will always 
remain in a fatty condition. Linseed oil in that condi- 
tion seems to have lost much of its power to absorb oxy- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 381 

gen and should have some good japan dryer added to it 
to make it dry. Unhke other linseed oil, however, it re- 
mains in a tacky condition for some time, some days 
even before it will eventually dry hard. It is when in 
that partially dried, tacky condition only that it is fit to 
be gilded upon. If gilding is attempted while it is 
sticky and leaves an imprint upon the finger when 
touched, it will come through the gold and dull or tar- 
nish it — when dry, but still tacky, is the proper time to 
apply the gold. If the surface is good and dry when the 
size for the lettering is applied, and one has been careful 
not to touch the ground with the fingers or with any- 
thing greasy the gold can be applied so that it will stick 
to the sizing only, but as said before, it does not matter 
so much if the sign is smalted. 

In aplying the size it is well to mix with it a little me- 
dium chrome yellow as then there is less chance of 
leaving a part of a letter unsized as it would show the 
omission at a glance. 

It is well to prepare the size and to test it beforehand 
so as to know how long it will take to dry it and how 
long it holds in good condition for the gilding, then to 
bottle it up and label it with its record of drying. Some 
need a quick size ; others again who have large surfaces 
to gild need it to hold the tack a long time and a gilder 
should have a 24-hour, a 48-hour and a 66-hour size. 
The last would be seldom used except upon work where 
the operator could not get back to it for some days 
after applying it. 



382 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

These gold sizes in fat oil can be bought ready pre- 
pared in most of the supply stores. As they are more 
carefully tested and great care taken of having them 
just right, it is much better to buy them in that way 
than to waste the time necessary to prepare them for 
one's self. 

The gilding is done in the same manner as stated in 
Paragraph 146, to which the reader is referred for 
further explanations. 

273. For surfaces which are not to be cut-in and 
for japanned tinware, etc., the surface should be rubbed' 
over with whiting after having first been washed over 
with alcohol and a chamois skin to remove any greasi- 
ness. This rubbing over with chalk will deaden the 
ground so that gold will not adhere to it, but care must 
be taken not to touch it as there is sufficient tackiness in 
the touch of the fingers rubbed over the ground to make 
the gold adhere to it sometimes. 

Some take a raw potato and rub over the japanned 
surface with the freshly cut side of it, cutting slices out 
of it and rubbing all over the surface with it before 
sprinkling chalk or whiting over it. The gold size is 
then applied and the gilding is done as upon wood de- 
scribed in the preceding paragraph. After the surplus 
gold has been brushed off and dusted, clean the whiting 
by washing it with a soft sheep's wool sponge and water. 

274. Window shades are frequently used for sign 
work and they are very appropriate to the purpose. 
Usually it is the lower part only that is lettered as the 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 383 

upper and central portion of it is ordinarily rolled up, 
leaving only the lower portion of it visible then — 
at least during business hours. 

If the painting of the sign is to be in oil colors, the 
painting should be laid out and done in precisely the 
same manner as it w^ould be upon a board sign. 

If to be gilded, the surface being always a dead flat, 
hard and free from tack, it is an ideal surface to work 
upon. Unless one has been careless and greased por- 
tions of it the gold will not adhere to its surface and one 
can get a clean-cut edge if a rightly tempered size is 
used, which should be some quick fat oil size, or if 
quicker work is desired, some good gold size japan. 

275. Gilding on glass has been fully explained 
under the heading entitled, "Gilding," in Paragraph 
149, and the reader should carefully read that over for 
explanations of the proper way of applying the leaf 
and other details affecting gilding on glass. 

Cleanliness cannot be too strongly insisted upon as 
the work will surely look lame somewhere if this has 
not been scrupulously attended to before the gilding is 
commenced. Rub the whole surface of the glass with 
alcohol that no grease or dirt of any kind may come 
between the gold and the glass as it will show through 
it. It is well to also clean the outside of the glass as 
sometimes specks which one sees and which it is thought 
are on the outside may possibly be on the inside instead 
- — besides it is better to have it clear to see through. 



384 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

The design of the lettering and ornamentation 
should first be drawn upon manilla paper and pricked 
through with a tracing wheel or needle to make a pounce 
of it; then sandpapered on the reverse side to open up 
the holes better and so they will not clog up. Take 
the design and using it right side up proceed, to pounce 
it on with whiting upon the outside of the glass. As 
this whiting will show very faint, it is better to take 
some tailor's chalk or a piece of hard soap sharpened 
up to an edge and mark out the outlines of the design- 
ing, as otherwise the wind and other agencies might 
obliterate them. 

Then proceed to apply the gold leaf on the inside so 
that every part of the outlined design on the outside 
shall have been covered over with the leaf and in an 
hour or two afterward follow up with another coat of 
gold leaf to make sure that no part has been overlooked 
and to cover up all cracks and defects in the leaf put on 
before. This double gilding is the only sure w-ay of 
making a creditable job of gilding. 

When dry the gilding is ready for the backing. Now 
take the design and pounce it on the inside, upon the 
back side of it so that it will correspond to what was 
outlined on the outside and in as nearly the same place 
as it occupied there. The pouncing should be done with 
some dark dry color as it will show plainer upon the' 
gold. Some gilders use black asphaltum varnish to 
back up gold with, but a good coach black in japan 
thinned with carriage japan and turpentine or 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 385 

a black rubbing varnish will be found better, and 
will work better under the brush. Two coats should 
be given. Some gilders use a chrome yellow ground 
in japan and thinned as stated before instead 
of a black. It is certainly more sensible, as should an 
unseen defect be in the leaf the chrome yellow backing 
will render it unnoticeable while the black will show 
through it. 

In a day or two wash the surplus gold off and the 
sign will be ready for the shading if any is to go on, or 
for outlining, etc. This will give a good plain, solid 
burnished gold sign. 

276. Ornaments in matt gold for parts of letters, 
or for shading them are quite the fad now. It is being 
used in shaping letters into a bevelled appearance, and 
in scroll work on the inside of the letter, or for making 
the center all matt, and hundreds of variations. These 
effects of burnished gold and matt are fine if well made 
and in the beveled letters often would fool one who did 
not know how such effects are produced. 

The process is very simple and easy. All the parts 
which are to show matt are first painted on the glass 
with linseed oil and turpentine mixed together so as 
to work freely under the brush ; a very little lemon or 
medium chrome yellow should be added, but not suf- 
ficient to show opaque. The painting must be trans- 
parent to allow the gold to show through it, or the 
beautiful effect would be lost. 



386 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

The introduction of other ornamenting- material in 
the make-up of a glass gilt sign, especially in those that 
are framed and used for advertising purposes, is fre- 
quent. For such purposes circular and any other form 
of openings are left for the filling of pearl flakes, flit- 
ters, etc. These openings are surrounded with a gold 
line. Sometimes photographs are inserted in them. 
Such make variety and in these advertising framed 
glass signs license runs riot on trying to obtain new 
effects. As they are usually expensive and hung in 
offices where they can be closely examined, and at lei-- 
sure, fancy styles of lettering may be indulged in to al- 
most any extent one can wish for ; so that would appear 
ridiculous in a staid and sober street business sign, will 
be all right for this class of work. 

277. Advertising signs can be arranged under two 
heads: First, those done upon buildings, either on 
wood or brick, and, second, those done on bulletin 
boards specially erected for such a purpose. 

It is not intended here to go into all the details of 
this great business, as it would need too much of the 
space of this manual. This business is usually made a 
separate one, and many are usually under the control 
of large concerns who have contracts for advertising all 
over the country, keeping many gangs of men at work 
during the open season. 

While the general sign painter in the city will not be 
greatly interested in them, the sign painter in the 
smaller towns may derive quite a revenue from the erec- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 38? 

tion of bulletin sign boards upon the leading entrance 
streets to his town and the yearly rent derived from 
these will make quite an item in his bank account. Few 
towns are so small that its merchants will not want to 
be represented upon its bulletin and it will be easy to 
get them into it, if a few of the leading ones can be in- 
duced to make a start at it. At any rate, the nearby big 
town clothiers, dry goods and other houses will all be 
eager for good spaces upon them. Besides general ad- 
vertisers, if written to, and proper explanation is given, 
will gladly avail themselves of the opportunity which 
usually will cost them less than the big advertising 
firms could afford to take similar work for, away from 
the city, and under big expense in sending out gangs of 
men for the erection of bulletins and to do the painting. 

These bulletins can be made uniform in size and the 
space let at so much per square foot, including the 
painting and taking care of it. Or they can be made to 
suit the ideas of the advertiser. They can be made of 
wood all through or with a wooden frame to which is 
nailed galvanized iron sheets. 

The wood should have three coats of paint upon the 
face, and for protection to the boards and to keep them 
from warping, should have two coats on the back. The 
galvanized iron should be given one coat of red lead 
priming and two coats of lead paint over it and when 
done in that way will hold the paint without scaling, 
as well as wood. 



388 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

There is more display for skill in bulletin advertis- 
ing sign work than is needed in ordinary commercial 
sign lettering. There is a possibility in the use of colors 
here not afforded in regular sign work and one should 
be well versed in the proper harmonizing of these. 
As much pictorial work of nearly everything manufac- 
tured under the sun, the advertising sign painter should 
be able to draw and paint with accuracy anything and 
everything that may be demanded of him from a rock- 
ing chair to a threshing machine or a building, figures 
in the bust or full drawn, landscapes, etc. Of course; 
he will not be expected to produce artistic work in all 
that the word implies, but the nearer he can call his 
productions by that name, the better he will please his 
customers as well as himself. 

Work upon the bulletin boards is usually done in the 
ordinary way as it would be in the shop upon the pre- 
pared ground, or it may be done as it is usually done 
upon the outside walls of brick or frame buildings by 
painting on the design and lettering first with a heavy 
color made short so it will cut to an edge without run- 
ning, by using about one half kerosene oil with linseed 
oil and benzine in the thinning. This sets quickly 
upon unpainted surfaces especially, and can be im- 
mediately worked upon and cut in with the ground 
color which is usually black, and being prepared from 
lamp black covers solidly in one coat. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 38d 

QUESTIONS ON SIGN PAINTING. 

260. What is said regarding sign painting? 

261. How many branches can sign painting be di- 
vided into? 

262. What should a sign painter know? 

263. What material is needed for sign painting? 

264. What are the principal tools required in a sign 
painting shop? 

265. How are letters made? 

266. How many kinds of primary forms of letters 
are there? 

267. How are letters shaded? 

268. How are signs painted on sign boards and 
upon buildings ? 

269. How should the lettering be spaced upon each 
line? 

270. How are show cards and muslin signs pre- 
pared and painted? 

271. What is said of gold sign painting? 

272. How are gold signs on wood, etc., painted? 
2y^. How are japanned tin surfaces gilded ? 

274. How are gold signs painted on window 
shades ? 

275. How should the glass surface be prepared for 
the gilding? 

276. How is the matting of the gold surface pro- 
duced upon glass gilding? 

277. Tell what is said concerning advertising signs 
and their painting? 



390 Modern Painter^s Cyclopedia 

STAINS AND STAINING. 

278. Staining, as the name indicates, is the opera- 
tion through which certain substances are changed from 
their natural color to another. Unlike painting, it does 
not cover, or at least should not cover up, any of the 
designs which may be upon the surface the staining is 
applied to; so woods which are the principal material 
upon which the painter usually applies stains, should 
show its veins, pores and other details as clearly after 
the staining as before its application. Therefore, it is 
easily to be seen where the difference lies between it 
and graining; as some people frequently confound the 
two terms. Staining does not pretend to make another 
wood out of the one it is applied over, or, at least, to 
change its veining into an entirely different wood, while 
graining doe*- It is true that the dividing line is rather 
difficult to see at times and that some graining is done 
sometimes by staining, but it is not the prime object of 
it, and the great bulk of it is done for a different object 
in view. 

279. Many woods change their colors greatly by 
aging. Oak, for instance, will become almost a black in 
time, maple will become of a deep buff brown. Ma- 
hogany will take on a deep burnt sienna red brown tone 
and so on through the whole list of woods. 

Now it is impossible to age wood much faster than 
nature does it and when the effect of age is desired 
upon new wood the only way open to obtain the results 
at once, without waiting, is by staining the woods to 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia . 391 

the tone they would have taken by waiting patiently 
several hundred years to elapse. Again, many people 
desire certain tones and colors in a room to harmonize 
carpets and wall hangings into a good combination, and 
such do not hesitate to order furniture or wood work 
to be stained in any color of the rainbow they have a 
fancy for. It certainly is not in good taste to stain 
woods in colors which do not belong to them, as blues, 
greens, etc., and while this is a free country, etc., as 
long as a person is not sent to the penitentiary for com- 
mitting outrages against nature, nor to insane asylums, 
it is very probable that the practice will go on undis- 
turbed. But it is vulgarity, to say the least of the prac- 
tice, and painters should not encourage it. 

Stains are useful and fill a legitimate object in dec- 
oration when properly used, and many an ugly-looking, 
cheaply finished up house inside woodwork can be made 
more cheery and less of an eyesore if colored up by 
staining. If graining is permissible — and it is — with 
as much good reason for it as the representation of ob- 
jects and scenes upon canvas to look at and enjoy — 
then for the very same reason it, too, has its "raison 
d'etre," for it is enjoyable and agreeable to the owner 
or it would not be put there. Graining may, and would 
be, objectionable if done in any but the colors which 
naturally belong to the wood it imitates, and for the 
same reason that a painter's picture of a green horse 
would not be, nor should not be admired. It has been 
stated before that the line of demarcation between 



392 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

graining and staining was hard to distinguish at times, 
and it is as much of the staining of mahogany, mottled 
maple, etc., partakes more or less of that character. 

280. So, to distinguish it from the ordinary stain- 
ing of wood which is done all over without any special 
preparation, it will be called grained staining. This 
grained staining is done so as to change the character 
of the wood being stained over so that it may look more 
natural and resemble the wood which the stain is sup- 
posed to transform it in — in its veinings. Now, the 
cheap, soft maple has none of the marking of mottled 
maple, nor has birch any of the feathered markings of 
mahogany which it is made to imitate so much and so 
that ihe mahogany staining which is done over it may 
appear more natural and pleasing these mottlings are 
put on the bare wood before the staining proper is put 
on all over. Even veinings can be put in to good effect 
with a fan overgraining brush and some fine imitation 
of many woods can be made upon the bare wood in 
stain graining. The wood over which such is made, 
however, must not possess any marked character of 
their own as they would be brought out by the stain and 
a double appearance of different veinings would look 
ridiculous. 

281. There are two ways of staining wood, or 
rather of preparing the coloring matter used in making 
the stains used over them. Both have their uses and 
are better adapted for certain purposes than the other. 



Modern Painte/s Cyclopedia 393 



»: 



One is to thin the col^- with linseed oil and the other 
is to dissolve it in water. 

282. Oil stains have an advantage over water stains 
in that upon the bare v/ood it acts as a primer and 
partial filler and that they do not raise the grain or pores 
of the wood — which water stains certainly do. They 
protect the wood from humidity and mishaps of various 
kinds, and but that oil stains are not as penetrating as 
water stains are, and for that reason are easier marred 
and damaged, they would be superior for general use in 
hardwood staining. On this account mainly, notwith- 
standing their good traits otherwise, they are seldom 
used except for the staining of pine partitions and soft 
woods of little value, manufacturers of furniture and 
other hardwood finishers preferring the great draw- 
back of the raised grain to cut down, to the danger of 
having their work spoiled by the shallowness of the 
staining. Another reason also is that as most of the 
oil stains are prepared from finely ground pigments, 
which all have more or less opacity, as siennas and 
umbers, although called transparent or semi-transpar- 
ent, they do not give as clear a tone of stain as the water 
stains do, so that a portion of the details in the veining 
of the woods stained with them is lost or hid by the 
opacity of the pigment in the stain. 

283. Water stains dissolve the substances used in 
the making of them and this solution must be entire, or 
when partial only, as when obtained by maceration or 
percolation, the stain should be run through a funnel 



394 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

filled with percolating paper to free it from specks of 
undissolved foreign matter. 

A good water stain should hold the dissolved color- 
ing matter in solution without precipitation, or it will 
be of little value unless used with constant agitation 
and even then it will hardly make a satisfactory stain 
free from specking, so such should be avoided. For 
this reason the earth colors, such as the siennas, umber, 
etc., which are not soluble in water but would be only 
held in suspension in it, are not fitted for water stains, 
however good they may be for oil stains. Therefore,' 
the substances required for the making of water stains 
must be entirely soluble in it, or at least the substance 
used must have a portion of it that is soluble and which 
can be extracted out of it by either maceration or. 
percolation. 

284. The stains which are made from soluble sub- 
stances as some of the aniline dyes — alizarine, purpu- 
rine, nigrine, etc., which are entirely soluble are easily 
made by simply dissolving them with hot water, usually. 

Those made by percolation are also easily made, the 
ingredients to be percolated being simply placed in a 
funnel which has been first covered inside with an un- 
sized percolating paper through which the dissolved 
stain will pass but which will hold back any undis- 
solved matter. 

The stains made by maceration require considerable 
more time, some of them requiring fully two weeks to 
become entirely dissolved. When so dissolved, they 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 395 

should be filtered through filtering paper as stated for 
the percolation process. 

Sometimes the process of maceration and of solution 
is hastened by boiling, but again in others it would ruin 
the stain, so that in subsequent paragraphs where re- 
cipes are given as to how to prepare them from various 
substances unless boiling is plainly stated to be the 
proper way of dissolving the coloring, cold or only mod- 
erately warm water should be used. 

With the above instructions it is hoped that there 
will be no trouble in obtaining good results in the pre- 
paring of stains from the formulas given. 

Many of the formulas given are of old time tested 
quality and are good — but too tedious to make in our 
twentieth century times, but there are some who still 
want them. The list of such has been abridged, how- 
ever, giving only a few for each color of wood. Few 
persons can afford to spare the time necessary for their 
preparation, and upon the whole it is a question as to 
whether it will pay them to do so, when they can be 
made ready for use in a few minutes from the pre- 
pared dyes or stains, all ready made, and for sale at 
most of the supply stores. 

285. There is a class of prepared goods which have 
been used ' in immense quantities of late — i. e., the 
varnish stains. Most of them are sold under fancy 
names, copyrighted by their manufacturers, but which 
is the same thing after all. They usually consist of 
cheap varnish, colored with some dye, soluble in volatile 



396 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

oils. Why they are used to the extent they are is a con- 
undrum, accountable for only because of the extensive 
advertising given them. 

The work done with such can never be as good as 
that done with a previous stain covered over with var- 
nish of good quality afterward. All varnish stains set 
quickly with the consequence that the laps of the brush 
show all over the job and make it look uneven, while, 
had the stain been applied first it would have a much 
better appearance — besides if finished over with a good 
coat of varnish the assurance that the job will remain 
good for sometime afterward, especially upon floors, 
etc., where good quality for wear counts for something. 

RECIPES FOR MAKING OIL STAINS. 

286. Any finely ground transparent or semi-trans- 
parent color ground in oil will make an oil stain. If a 
dark color is wanted it must not be thinned with as 
much oil; if a light colored stain of it is desired, then 
it must be thinned out with more. 

All the aniline and alizarine colors made which are 
soluble in oil can also be used to make oil stains so that 
an immense range can be had. These are not quite as 
permanent as those made from oil colors — but those 
made from alizarine are dependable. 

I. Oil Oak Stain. — (Light oak.) Raw sienna, raw 
umber; 2/3 of the former, 1/3 of the latter. Thin with 
raw linseed oil to suit. Add enough turpentine to make 
it set and a little liquid dryer. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 397 

2. Oil Oak Stain. — (Dark oak.) Raw sienna, raw 
umber, burnt umber; 1/3 of each. Thin with raw lin- 
seed oil as stated in No. i. 

3. Oil Walnut Stain. — Burnt umber or Vandyke 
brown, thinned as directed for No. i. Add more drier 

if Vandyke brown is used. 

4. Ebony. — Drop black, thinned with raw linseed 
oil, turpentine, and liquid dryer. 

All colors of stains obtainable from either transparent 
oil colors or aniline soluble in oil in any shade desired 
can all be made in the manner stated above and those 
should suffice as an indication as to the "how to make 
them." 

SPIRIT STAINS. 

287. Alcoholic Stains are but little used, not only on 
account of their expense but because they raise the grain 
of the wood as bad as water stains do. Some instru- 
ment manufacturers, however, want them as well as 
others tor special uses, so a few of the more important 
ones are given. 

5. Yelloiv. — Tumeric powder, i oz. ; alcohol, i 
pint. Digest four days, shaking occasionally and strain. 
To be brushed over the wood until the color wanted is 
obtained. 

6. Yclloivish Red, Orange. — Add an alcoholic solu- 
tion of dragon's blood to the degree of redness wanted 
to the above ; apply it in the same way. 

7. Mahogany. — Dragon's blood, 13^2 ounces; car- 
bonate of soda, y2 ounce ; alcohol, i pint. Digest a few 



398 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

days to make it dissolve, filter and brush it over after the 
application of the following wash : Wash over the sur- 
face with dilute nitric acid. 

8. Ebony. — Dissolve extract of logwood in dena- 
tured or wood alcohol to any shade desired. Strain and 
apply. The color is afterward developed by washing 
over the surface with tincture of muriate of iron. 

ANILINE DYES ON STAINS. 

288. Many persons are afraid of the name aniline 
as it is the equivalent of "fugitiveness" in their thoughts^ 
and the pc^orer kinds certainly are. But some are very 
useful and fairly permanent when properly put on and 
such as are made from alizarine are as permanent or 
even more so than similar ones made from any other 
substances known. 

As each manufacturer makes these by processes some- 
what different and requiring different treatment in fix- 
ing in the use of mordants, acids or alkalies, it will be 
well to ascertain exactly what is needed by asking the 
dealer about it, as what would be good for one would 
harm another. 

Another great trouble in these dyes is that there is no 
nomenclature known among dealers — each manufac- 
turer having adopted a name of his own for the colors 
he produces, so that there is an endless row of trouble 
ahead for those who are looking up a new line of these 
colors to work with. He has to learn over and to for- 
get all about what he had learned before in order to 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 399 

adapt himself to the different handling required for 
those made by a different manufacturer. 

Those soluble in linseed oil or turpentine require the 
liquids to be moderately warmed and some little time to 
perfect the solution. Those soluble in water usually 
are readily dissolved and below is given a typical recipe 
to indicate how they are all made and which will suffice 
for all the others. 

9. Mahogany. — Bismarck brown, i ounce; water, 
3 quarts. Let the water be boiled, pour upon the Bis- 
mark brown and dissolve. It is ready to use as soon as 
it has cooled. 

WATER STAINS. 

289, Really under the heading of water stains most 
of the aniline dye stains really belong, but it was thought 
best to treat of them separately and to place under this 
heading the old stand-by recipes which have been in 
use, some of them, from time immemorial. The list is 
a large one to pick from, but as these are now but sel- 
dom used, it has been cut down to one or two sample 
ones for each of the leading woods. 

10. Light oak. — Quercitron bark, 2 oz. ; water, i 
gallon ; macerate for two weeks, filter and use. 

11. Dark oak. — Quercitron bark, 4 oz. ; water i 
gallon ; macerate for two weeks, filter and use. 

12. JValnut No. i. — Permanganate of potash, i 
ounce; Epsom salt, i ounce; water, i quart; dissolve, 
strain and apply, repeating until sufficiently darkened. 

13. Walnut, No. 2. — Nutgalls, crushed, 3 ounces; 



400 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

concentrated lye, 4 ounces; Vandyke brown, (dry) 8 
ounces ; boil till the bulk is reduced one half. When cold 
apply to the wood with a cloth or pad. 

14. Mahogany, No. i. — Fustie chips, 8 ounces; 
madder root, i pound ; water, two gallons. Boil for two 
or three hours ; strain and apply boiling hot. 

15. Mahogany, No. 2. — Make a decoction of log- 
wood chips by boiling them in a closely covered vessel 
for two hours in twice their bulk of water ; strain ; add 
a small quantity of chloride of tin ; this will give it red- 
ness. Be your own judge when to stop. Apply two 
coats. 

16. Cherry. — Spanish anetto, i pound; concentra- 
ted lye, I ounce ; boil for half an hour, boil more to con- 
centrate it. Gamboge added to it will concentrate it. 

17. Ehony, No. i. — Extract of logwood, 3 pounds; 
concentrated lye, i pound; water, seven pounds; dis- 
solve by boiling, strain and apply hot or cold. When 
dry go over the work with a strong solution of vinegar 
and iron. 

18. Ebony, No. 2. — Sulphate of iron, ^ pound; 
Chinese blue, 2 ounces; nutgalls, 3 ounces; extract of 
logwood, 2 pounds; vinegar, i gallon; carbonate of 
iron, 54 pound. Boil over a slow fire for two or three 
hours, strain and apply hot or cold. 

19. Rosewood. — Any of the mahogany stains will 
make a rosewood stain if applied over and over until the 
proper depth has been attained and then stained over 
with an ebony stain, very lightly put on. Then after- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 401 

ward run over with a camel's hair brush loaded with the 
ebony dye in irregular veins all over the surface. The 
grain of the natural wood being- straggling and occur- 
ring in a haphazard sort of way it should be imitated as 
close as possible. 

20. Crimson. — Biazilwood, pulverized, i pound; 
water, 3 pounds; cochineal, ^ ounce; boil the Brazil- 
wood with the water for half an hour. Strain and add 
the cochineal. Boil gently for another half hour; let it 
cool and it is fit for use. 

21. Violet. — Make a solution of orchil and soluble 
indigo blue of such strength as required. Strain and 
apply when cold. 

22. Blue. — Indigo blue, 3 ounces; sulphuric acid, I 
pound. Put the two together in a porcelain dish and let 
the indigo dissolve, which will take twenty-four hours 
or more. Shake it up occasionally to hasten the pro- 
cess. Add a pint of boiling water and strain, applying 
the stain to the wood while hot. Before the indigo 
stain has completely dried, wash over the surface with a 
solution made of 3 ounces of cream of tartar in one 
quart of water. 

The above will suffice to give an idea of the trouble 
and difficulty in making the easiest ones made of the old 
timers. It is much easier to use the ones ready preparec' 
and cheaper in the end. 

QUESTIONS AS TO STAINING AND STAINS. 

278. What is said of staining? 

279. Why is staining resorted to? 



402 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

280. What is grained staining? 

281. How many different methods of staining are 
there? 

282. Where are stains in oil most useful ? 

283. What kinds of woods require water stains ? 

284. How are water stains made? 

285. What are varnish stains? 

286. Oil stains. — Recipes, how to make them. 

287. Spirit stains. — Recipes, how to make them. 

288. AniHne stains. — Recipe, how to make them. 

289. Water stains. — Recipes, how to make them. 

STENCILS AND STENCILLING. 

290. This is the stencil age. This method of em- 
bellishment in ornamenting surfaces is becoming more 
and more popular and it has passed from the exclusive 
use of the decorator into common household use by 
every one having something in the home worthy of 
being made more beautiful by using them. In other 
words it has become a fad and with the history of past 
fads in mind, the time will come when it will come to a 
stop from the very excesses to which it is put. It will, of 
course be overdone, and that, as other fads before that 
are gone and been forgotten, will once more be left 
where it has a legitimate existence into the hands of 
professional decorators. 

Stencils, in repeated and conventional decoration, will 
always be used. One could almost assert that ever since 
decoration has been introduced into the world that in 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 403 

all probabilities stencils were used in repeating designs, 
and some of the remnants which have been preserved 
unto our day which are found in museums of antiquities, 
would indicate that the ancients were not ignorant of its 
use. 

291. Stencils are used for many purposes which the 
subject matter of this book does not treat upon, such as 
decorating of textile fabrics, commercial stencils used in 
marking of boxes, barrels, etc. Stencils therefore will 
be treated from the standpoint of the decorator and the 
uses he can make of them in either water or oil colors. 
Stencils are also extensively used in making numerous 
duplicates of a given sign by sign painters, either for use 
upon muslin signs or boards in one or many colors. 

MATERIAL USED IN CUTTING STENCILS. 

292. The material used in the making of stencils 
differs according as to what use they are intended for. 

Sheet brass is used for commercial purposes and 
would be the best for the decorator too, but for its cost 
and the difficulty of cutting them. 

A specially prepared resined clear, or rather semi- 
transparent paper, is much used for the purpose by the 
decorators. This paper cuts a very smooth edge arid 
being tough the ties do not break easily. 

Good manilla drafting paper is also very useful and 
while not sized like the resin paper above, after it has 
been coated over with two good coats of orange shellac 
it will withstand the pouncing of the stencil brush about 



404 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

as well and as long as the specially prepared resin paper 
will. 

Cartridge paper, not too thick, makes an excellent 
material upon which to cut stencils. 

Printer's press bedding manilla paper is also much 
used and can be procured at any printing office when 
possibly some of the others might not. The above pa- 
per is tough and pliable and but that it stretches some- 
what too readily, it is the equal of the others in all other 
respects. It is well to give it a coat of linseed oil on 
both sides before it is shellacked, as after such a coating 
it is not so likely to stretch. 

To cut the stencils upon, a smooth level surface hard 
enough to not be dented by the knife must be procured. 

Most decorators prefer a piece of plate glass. Some 
use sheet tin and for a short time no doubt that may be 
best, but tin soon gets scratched over when the knife will 
catch and a clean cut line is then out of the question. 

A lignum vitae block well smoothed is the best, but 
such are not readily obtained anywhere while plate glass 
can and for this reason if no other it is more used and 
with good success than any other. 

A good stock of stencil brushes from J^ inch to i V2 
inches (see Figs. 18 and 19) are indispensable in order 
to insure good clean work. The larger ones are used 
mainly upon duplicated muslin signs, some use as large 
as a 2 inch brush for this purpose as these will hold 
enough color to coat over the stencil without refilling. 
Punches for cutting round holes. The colors used in 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 405 

either water or oil are the whole list of pigments useful 
in either classes. Some charcoal and drawing crayons 
to design the ornaments to be cut out and of course, all 
the requisite thinners for the colors, as linseed oil, tur- 
pentine and orange shellac varnish. 

Last, but not least, some good stencil knife. While it 
is possible to cut a stencil with an ordinary pocket knife, 
the blades in most of these are not formed just right to 
cut stencils quickly, nor will the cuts made be as clean 
as the ones which are specially prepared for this purpose 
and which are found for sale in any of the larger supply 
stores. 

293. It is always best to draw the design upon the 
stencil paper which is about to be cut before the paper is 
oiled when this is necessary as in the printer's press bed- 
ding manilla paper. This is unnecessary for all the 
others mentioned, but all should have at least one if not 
two coats of orange shellac given them after the cutting. 
Where a stencil is to be used over and over a good many 
times in water colors, especially, it will be well to give 
them two coats at least. The constant wetting other- 
wise will make them flabby and it is impossible to make 
a good showing with such, and much valuable time will 
have to be wasted in waiting for them to dry before they 
can be safely used again. 

294. The designing of a stencil will depend upon 
the use it is intended for. It may be a simple fillet or 
serpentine line or it may be the most intricate of designs 
in one or many colors. 



406 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



If in one color only, the whole of the design is cut out 
upon the one stencil — excepting that what are known as 
ties, which must be left here and there to hold the design 
together, and to stiffen it up. Those ties instead of de- 
tracting from the beauty of the finish, are really helpful 
in producing effects not otherwise obtainable and in the 
hands of the skillful designer instead of proving a hin- 
drance as many suppose them to be, they will enhance 
the beauty of the design. Even the human face and 
form can be produced in one color stencils with fine ef- 
fects by the judicious selection of the proper place for 
putting in the ties. 

It is frequently necessary to leave ties in a stencil 
where color must be used in order to hold it together. 
In such a case the ties must be filled in by hand. As the 
texture of the paint put in with the pouncing of the sten- 
cil brush some little care will have to be exercised in 
order to put the color in with a brush that it does not dif- 
fer too much from the rest of it to be noticed and it will 
be well to use the stencil brush itself as much as possible 
in pouncing them over in order that the coloring may 
look all alike. 

295. Below are given a few illustrations of easy 
stencils to make. In Fig. loi and Fig. 102 are shown 






.0 ( 



%.l^ 



K^ 



-kif 



Fig. 101. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



407 



some simple one color stencils, supplemented by hand 
painted lines. 









-®- • 



01 
9J 



Fig. 102. 
Stencils in one color can be made more attractive by 
the use of varied coloring of the ground coats over 
which they are placed, Figs. 103 and 104. The upper 




Fiff. 103. 




Fig. 104. 
part in both those designs being itj a deeper tone than 
that of the lower half. These are also supplemented 
with hand painted lines. 



408 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



In Fig. 105 the middle portion is painted of a deeper 
tone, also the rest of it, and the herring bone section of 




'Ji^J 



w^j^i}^yi^. 



^r^Tc^ 



Fisr. 105. 



it must have separate small hand painted lines painted 
on each side of it. In the figure the herring bone shows 




*•<•>♦•" — <•>•••"••<•> 



■»I<<t*<f<$^<v»<^^^^->Hi 




Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 409 

in the white, but this would necessitate an extra stencil 
and is unnecessary as the black or whatever color is used 
will cover it up and it may as well be painted all over 
with the rest of it above. A broader hand painted line 
above between the upper broken line and at the bottom 
another finer hand painted line, finishes the stencil. 

In Fig. io6 is shown a combination of a hand painted 
molding and of a one color stencil below it or the stencil 
may be placed below a plaster molding properly colored. 
This design has only two small hand painted lines. 

One color stencils may be made more effective some- 
times by using different colors or tones of one color in 
dififerent parts of it. This requires but little more addi- 
tional time in its execution. The different colors or 
tones must each be put on with different stencil brushes 
is all the difference. 

296. In preparing stencils where more than one is 
used in the same color, all that will be required of the 
second one will be to draw and cut out the parts which 
show as ties in the first one. This gives the effect of 
solid hand painted work and lines can be worked out in 
stencils so as to resemble hand painted lines in the same 
manner. 

297. If two or more colors are to be used in stencil 
work, a separate stencil must be made for each color 
used. Great care must be taken that each stencil regis- 
ters perfectly over each other and an allowance must be 
made of say 1/32 part of an inch so as to insure the cov- 
ering over and good joining of the two or more colors. 



410 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

The ties in such a case are of no importance as the next 
stencil will cover them over. Some beautiful work is 
done in multi-color stencils which will sometimes puz- 
zle the inexperienced and set them at guessing whether 
the work is not hand made. An experienced stencil cut- 
ter can obtain some very close imitations of hand work 
in that way and the sign painters obtain really better 
looking work by the use of several stencils than is 
usually done by hand in all but the highest priced work. 

298. The designs for the several stencils or for the 
single ones having been drawn out in full upon the face 
of the stencil paper, the sheet should be placed upon the 
plate glass or lignum vitae block or whatever the cutter 
has decided to use to cut upon. Then with the set of 3 
cutting knives provided of the specially made ones men- 
tioned the cutter proceeds to cut out all of the design 
with the exception of the ties already mentioned. While 
the stencil cutting set of knives is not absolutely neces- 
sary, where one has considerable stencil cutting to do, 
he will find it very poor economy in trying to do his 
work with an ordinary knife, nor will his stencils look as 
well, as no matter how careful he may be there will be 
some ragged edges. 

The round holes, especially the smaller ones, are 
much better and quicker made with a punch. The ordi- 
nary harness maker leather punches are the best for the 
purpose. The stencil should be placed over a level 
wooden block and the punch struck with a hammer. 
Being hollow the paper is forced up it and when done 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 411 

with it, a pencil will push it out of the punch. One 
should be used with it. The stencil bruch should be dip- 
various ones from % upward to an inch. When a circle 
is larger than that they can be cut with a knife much 
easier than the smaller ones. 

When the stencilling is done in several colors and re- 
quires several stencils to be cut, it has already been 
stated that they must register perfectly over each other 
or the work will be imperfect. This should be attended 
to in the drawing out of the design, but registering 
guide marks should be cut in to enable the operator 
when shifting it to a new position to so place it that it 
will be just right otherwise no matter how well the de- 
sign has been drawn nor how perfect each stencil may 
register with the others, a botchy effect will be produced 
by the unevenness of the lines. 

299. The stencils having been cut should now re- 
ceive the coats of shellac varnish already mentioned. 
Orange shellac is the best to use as it is stronger than 
the white. It should be brushed over carefully over both 
sides of the stencils and these should be hung up to dry 
which will require 8 to 12 hours according to the sea- 
sons. If the first coat has been put on in the morning, a 
second coat can be put on in the evening when they will 
be fit for use the next morning. 

The above is far the better way. Many who are in a 
hurry will give each coat one hour apart and will be 
using them perhaps within another hour, but they will 
not stand the hardship of those who have been done in 



412 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

the slower way and broken ties and limber stencils will 
hardly compensate for the waiting of a few hours lon- 
ger. 

300. Rooms may look square but may not be and 
belie their appearance. So to make sure of good results 
a chalk line should be used and a plumb bob to guide one 
in making perpendicular lines with it. If the ground is 
to be parti-colored this should of course have been done 
before the stencilling begins. All the lines for the va- 
rious stencils to be used in a room having been struck, 
the work of painting them on may begin. 

301. The colors used may be either water colors or 
colors in oil. If they are water colors they should be 
mixed somewhat thicker than is usual for ordinary ap- 
plication upon the walls, also a trifle more of the binder 
should be used with it. The stencil brush should be dip- 
ped in the color and then rubbed out upon a board or 
sheet of metal in order to work the color in well and to 
remove a superabundance of it on its surface which 
would blur and make a blotch upon the stencil. It is 
hard to describe exactly how much or how little should 
the brush hold and a few trials by the operator will soon 
teach him the proper quantity his brush should carry. 
The colors being ready he should place his stencil on the 
line at the proper part for the beginning. If the stencil 
is a large one he should first fasten it on to the wall with 
small thumb tacks made on purpose for this use. These 
tacks have a wide face somewhat similar to those used 
in fastening drawing paper to boards. The points are 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 413 

short and will not hurt the plaster. This fastening in- 
sures the stencil against slipping and relieves the opera- 
tor from having to hold it at arm's length, which is a 
tiresome job, on a ceiling especially. It gives him the 
use of both of his hands and enables him to press down 
the stencil close to the plaster ahead of the other which 
holds the brush with color. The color should not be 
brused over as in ordinary painting as that would surely 
cause some of the color to run under the edges of the 
stencil and make a blur, but should be pecked on in 
much the same way as a wall stippler is used. The left 
hand of the operator being free if he has fastened the 
stencil on the wall as directed above can slip along just 
ahead of the brush to smooth and hold down the paper 
very closely to the wall and much better work will result 
from it. Clean cut outline is the chief beauty of good 
stencilling and ragged edges are pretty sure indications 
of a second class workman. 

302. All that was stated in the preceding paragraph 
excepting as to the preparation of the colors, applies for 
work done in oil colors. The same care must be exer- 
cised all the way through the stencilling. The stencils 
in either case should be cleaned off of accumulations of 
colors near the edges as they would in time prevent the 
close contact required to make a clean cut edge. 

The color should be mixed much thicker than for w^all 
work and either flat or semi-flat to match the character 
of the rest of the walls. The brush should be very care- 
fully rubbed over the board at each new filling to re- 



414 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

move the surplus which would surely blur and with 
pecking strokes the color should be applied over the 
stencils. After the color has been mostly worked off 
the brush there is not so much danger of its running 
under the edge of the stencil and it may be used in a 
twirling way over it without much danger in the hands 
of a workman who is used to it ; the novice, however, is 
not advised to undertake it till he is sure of himself and 
of the proper condition v^hen it will be safe to do so. 

If the above directions are followed out there is no 
reason why a painter of ordinary ability may not do a 
great deal of decorative work which he could easily do 
at a remunerative price for himself, yet cheap enough as 
to interest many property owners who have an idea that 
all such work,^ which is ordinarily classed as fresco 
painting is too costly for the pockets of ordinary people. 
Many fairly good decorators have become such by first 
commencing to do some very plain stencilling then 
gradually growing into more difficult phases of it until 
familiarity developed stencilling with a blending of free 
hand and pouncings. When a painter has once started 
on the road (no matter how low) to decoration, he is 
sure to become so interested and to so love the work 
that he will use every effort to learn more and more un- 
til he finally becomes truly worthy of the name of 
Dccorotor. 

QUESTIONS ON STENCILS AND STENCILLINGS. 

290. What is said of stencils? 

291. What are stencils chiefly used upon? 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 415 

292. What materials are used for the making of 
stencils ? 

293. How is stencil paper prepared for the cutting? 

294. How are the stencils designed and tied? 

295. Give examples of how one color stencils can be 
used in and over varied colored grounds? 

296. What effect is produced by work done in two 
stencils in one color ? 

297. What effects are produced by work done in 
two or more stencils in various colors ? 

298. How are stencils cut? 

299. How are stencils shellacked? 

300. How are rooms prepared for the stencilling? 

301. How are stencils painted on in water colors? 

302. How are stencils painted on in oil colors ? 

VARNISHES. 

303. Varnishes have the property of making a 
gloss or an enamel upon the surfaces over which they 
are applied. 

Their uses in antiquity is far beyond the ken of men 
or history and in one instance at least more has been 
lost than has been learned since. In times so very re- 
mote that it is impossible to even guess a date within 
several hundred years, the Chinese produced a glass 
varnish which was used in coating over articles and 
which is indestructible. There are many specimens to 
be found of it and they are as perfect today as upon the 
day that the varnish was applied, so that one can truly 



416 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

say of it that it is indestructible. The Chinese them- 
selves have lost the art of making this varnish and so 
far with all the knowledge modern chemistry has put 
into the hands of men for scientific researches our sa- 
vants have been unable to unravel the mystery con- 
nected with it. This varnish dates back so far that even 
Chinese literature which dates back several thousand 
years before Christ, makes no mention of its discovery. 

Aside of this, lacquers were and had been in use 
also from time immemorial by the Asiatics, both Chi- 
nese and Japanese and the East Indies knew its uses in 
very ancient times. 

The varnish industry as we know it now is of com- 
paratively recent origin and it is not so very long back 
when many of the painters were in the habit of prepar- 
ing their own varnishes, as no factories such as pro- 
duce it at this time had any existence then. 

Formulas galore were in vogue then and many a 
painter paid a good bit of money for recipes known and 
handed down from father to son as an heirloom. Some 
of them have been handed down to us in both written 
formulas and in print, so that we can form as pretty 
good idea of what our forefathers had to do when they 
wanted a can of varnish for use, for they had it to make. 

Most of these recipes are loaded down with quite a 
number of unnecessary ingredients but the recipes 
would have been just as good without seven hairs from 
the inside of the left ear of a white hare, and must have 
put the painters of the sixteenth, seventeenth and 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 417 

eighteenth centuries to considerable trouble in catching 
the hares and then pulling the hair out of the hares. And 
such an array of names for gums as they had — enough 
to confound all but a twentieth cenury skeptic who has 
them all classed into very small groups with rosin at the 
top, of which our forefathers knew little about and 
cared less. , 

Up to the middle of the nineteenth century varnishes 
were still made by many painters, although factories be- 
gan to prepare them in a commercial way and for sale to 
the trade some time before and in a very humble way 
compared to the manner in which the large concerns en- 
gaged in its manufacture today do. 

England and France have the honor of having the 
oldest varnish factories in the world and compared to 
many other industries they may be called recent. Their 
preparations, however, did not extend down to the 
needs of the house painters, as they catered mainly to 
the wants of the carriage trade. Some of those old 
English and French varnish manufacturers' names are 
still in use and the lineal descendants of the families are 
still connected with the concerns making the varnishes 
today. Tradition having handed down the great value 
of their output said tradition having started when few 
knew what varnish was and when but few were en- 
gaged in its manufacture, it has enabled these old con- 
cerns" to hold trade against all comers at prices for their 
products in which the family names weigh more and for 
which more is paid for by the consumer than it is really 



418 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

worth to him. There is no doubt about the excellen- 
cies of their output but our laterday manufacturies are 
making just as good goods and at a price for which 
family name does not count in the making of it. 

304. Varnishes are made from various gums and- 
gum-resins and with various solvents. As for certain 
specific purposes each are better adapted for use in the 
one that any of the others, all are useful then for 
certain kinds of work. 

Some of the gums used are soluble only in alcohol 
and are known as spirit varnishes of such character is 
shellac varnish. Others again are soluble only in vola- 
tile oils, as turpentine, etc. 

Others are soluble in linseed oil under certain condi- 
tions or in combination with volatile oils. For practical 
purposes, however, varnishes may be divided up in 
three principal classes with many subdivisions in the 
three groups: 

1. Varnishes with an alcoholic base solvent. 

2. Varnishes with a volatile oil base solvent. 

3. Varnishes with a fixed oil base solvent, of which 
more will be said hereafter after the character of the 
gums used in preparing them has been looked into. 

305. The gums chiefly used in preparing varnishes 
are not many. The principal ones are gum copal — 
which is not a true gum insomuch that it is a fossil and 
will not dissolve in either water or volatile oil as all true 
gums do. It is chiefly imported from Africa and comes 
in many qualities. It ranges in color from a pale, nearly 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 419 

transparent tone of yellow, to dark brown and opaque 
chunks and in all sorts of intermediate tones between 
the two. The lightest and clearest is the most valuable 
and the intermediate shades decrease in value according 
as they approach the darker brown shades. Varnishes 
made from this gitm are the most desirable of all and 
the solvent under heat and special treatment of the 
manufacturer is mainly linseed oil, which gives the 
varnishes made from it its greater durability and elas- 
ticity. 

Kauri gum — is a resin gum of a semi-fossilized sort. 
It is found where original forests of the kauri pine for- 
merly existed and that is of better quality than that 
which is obtained from the trees by exudation. 

Animac. — A gnm-resin derived from a sort of le- 
guminous tree and probably from several varieties of 
the same specie. In its exudation insects are caught in 
it and come to market with them imbedded in the 
chunks, hence the name. The gum is not as hard as the 
copal gums of good quality and varnishes made from it 
have not the wearing qualities of the one made from 
high grade copal. The varnish makers use many of the 
gums in a blend to obtain varnishes adapted for certain 
definite purposes by the judicious mixing of various 
gums. 

Amber is used in making certain varnishes. It is a 
fossilized resin and is found in many countries. The 
chief source of supply, however, is from Germany, 



420 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

where it is found imbedded in the sand along the Baltic 
sea shore. 

Damar is a soft whitish gum which exudes from con- 
iferous species of trees in India and Ceylon. It is sol- 
uble in the volatile oils and yields a very white varnish 
of too soft a nature to be of much practical use except 
as a paper varnish for which on account of its pliability, 
it seems well adapted also on account of its colorless 
nature. 

Sandarac is also the product of conifers, but is of lit- 
tle better quality although harder than our own resin 
derived from yellow pine. 

Glim mastic is derived from a nut bearing tree of the 
Grecian archipelago, and exudes from the trees where 
incisions are made, in the shape of small tear like peb- 
bles. It is also too soft for other uses than that indi- 
cated for damar gum varnish. 

Resin of yellow pine extraction is used in many ways 
by varnish factories in connection with other harder 
gums and with China wood oil it yields some kinds of 
varnishes useful for many purposes. Since the intro- 
duction of wood oil in connection with varnish making, 
it has rendered its use possible where before it would 
not have been thought of. This wood oil seems to make 
it harder and more pliable at the same time and it is re- 
placing many of the soft gums which are mentioned 
above as it is very much cheaper than any of the others. 

Sticlac and Shellac may as well be reviewed to- 
gether, as shellac is only sticlac refined for commer- 



Modern Painter^s Cyclopedia 421 

cial use and immense quantities of it are used by the in- 
dustries of the country besides the use of it made by the 
hardwood finishing trade. It is the product of vegeta 
tion and is soluble in alcohol mainly. 

The solvents are alcohol, turpentine and linseed oil, 

306. The manufacture of varnish is an intricate, 
complex business requiring a long apprenticeship and 
accumulated experience and while the ways of making 
varnishes are well known, each manufacturer has little 
tricks of his own in the making of certain grades and in 
the ripening or blending of various gums which are 
carefully guarded. 

It requires a large capital besides for to properly con- 
duct a varnish manufacturing business. The ripening 
of varnishes requires months and even years to fit them 
for certain uses. 

It is much cheaper for the consumer to buy the var- 
nishes he uses ready for application than it would be 
for him to make them, even if he had the know how 
which he has not, and a person now who would under- 
take the making of his own varnish as "in ye olden 
tymes" would be considered as a fit subject for a lunatic 
asylum. Such easily made ones as shellac varnish, 
however, do not come under the same heading, and any 
one can readily make them for himself; all that is re- 
quired is to give the alcohol sufficient time to dissolve 
the shellac, but it will not pay one to make it as he can- 
not buy the shellac nearly as cheap as the manufacturer 



422 M&dern Painter's Cyclopedia 

does and it will probably cost him as much as the ready 
prepared article besides the trouble thrown in. 

307. The cheapest forms of varnish made are of 
course made entirely from resin dissolved in cheap min- 
eral volatile oil with some paraffin oil put into it in 
order that the brittleness of the resin may be counter- 
acted. 

The so-called "surfacers" are but little better than 
the gloss oils and may be classed together. They are 
chiefly used in coating over plastered walls to stop the 
suctions previous to the applications of water colors. ' 

308. Because a varnish may be cheap it need not 
necessarily be a poor one, nor will a high priced varnish 
necessarily be a good one, simply because high priced 
material enter into its composition. So there are a num- 
ber of cheaply made varnishes which are as good and 
possibly better for the purposes for which they are used 
than others which would cost many times more per gal- 
lon. Since manufacturers have been able by the proper 
use of wood oil, paraffine oil and linseed oil, to use resin 
and the darker colored gum copals to prepare good 
wearing varnishes by blending at a low cost, immense 
quantities are used by the trade and with good results. 

These cheaper varnishes of course all contain resin in 
greater of lesser quantities grading up in quality from 
something but little better than the surfacers on upward 
in quality and price up to extra No. i coach and light 
hard oil finish (so called) of this character are the Fur- 
niture varnishes; coach varnishes, including No. I 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 423 

coach and extra No. I coach. Some of them so good 
that they will rub and the whole grade in qualities of 
the so-called hard oils of which enormous quantities 
are used in finishing cheap interior wood work. 

309. The house painter and hard wood finishers are 
chiefly interested in the following varnishes, which all 
varnish houses now make a sepcialty of under some 
fancy proprietary name, but which are probably all pre- 
pared in much the same manner by all of them : 

Interior varnish for inside wood finishing. The bet- 
ter grades carry a fine lustre and all are rubbing var- 
nishes, and polish well. 

Outside varnish, usually an elastic varnish, but a 
slower dryer than the interior brands. Supposed to 
stand the weather, but they do not — at least not very 
long. Manufacturers should add to the label after the 
word Outside — when well protected from sun and rain. 
But then the varnish would not sell so well. 

Floor varnish completes the trio which every painter 
and wood finisher is interested in. This is made from 
very hard gums so as to stand the hardships it is sub- 
jected to from being walked upon, cleaned and brushed 
over. 

All the varnishes which have been mentioned so far 
are varnishes which are used in house construction by 
house painters and wood finishers even the so-called 
coach varnishes. These are never used by the carriage 
painter, however much the name would indicate that it 
is. They are chiefly used in the same way as hard oil 



424 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

finishes for the cheaper kinds of furniture and pine fin- 
ishes in room work ; in short they are all about on a par 
with furniture varnish. 

310. The carriage trade uses a higher grade of var- 
nishes than the average which is used in house work, so 
they cost more. Competition, however, has reduced the 
fancy prices asked and obtained by our English cousins 
across the water since American manufacturers have 
gained the experience enabling them to make as good 
carirage varnish as that which formerly was all im- 
ported. 

While carriage varnishers as a class by itself is of a 
better quality than the first ones reviewed, they are by 
no means all equally good, nor is it necessary that they 
should be. A cheap wagon or vehicle will not and 
ought not to receive the same treatment as an expensive 
coach, for if it did — it would not be cheap. Nor need 
the varnish be as good in the repainting of old vehicles 
as for first class work. So there are grades and quali- 
ties in carriage varnishes as well as in house varnishes. 

The carriage rubbing varnishes exemplified what is 
said in the preceding paragraph. They are made to rub 
in from 12 to 60 hours. The slower ones being the best 
and most expensive. 

The wearing body varnishes are and should be made 
from the very finest material and all manufacturers try 
to excel in their output of it. It too is made in several 
qualities. The palest which is made from the costliest 
gums is the highest priced, while the darker gums used 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 425 

in the lower grades of it cheapens the cost, while aside 
of the color the quality remains nearly as good. Some 
of the wearing body varnishes are made to dry quicker 
than others for hurried work. Generally speaking the 
slower drying ones are the best for wear. 

The gear varnishes, for the varnishing of running 
parts, are made to stand more hard knocks than any 
of the others and are to be found in many degrees of 
paleness and of quickness in drying. The slower driers 
are the more elastic. 

Manufacturers all have a long list of carriage var- 
nishes, describing each so that the person buying it 
may know just what to expect from it. All of them 
can be classed in the three kinds mentioned. The black 
rubbing is simply a rubbing varnish into which a black 
color has been ground and could be made in the shop, 
but that the mixture would not be as smooth and well 
ground together unless the shop is equipped for it. So 
all the numerous varnishes listed are simply varieties of 
those three — many being made in different qualities 
of paleness, elasticity, etc. 

311. As everything that has a gloss is a varnish, 
asphalHim varnish is entitled to the name. It is classed 
by itself for the reason that there is only one place 
where it can be useful and that is upon ironwork. It 
is made from asphaltum, a mineral gum too well known 
to need any introduction. It is melted and at as low a 
heat as possible turpentine or benzine or naptha is 
mixed in with it to make it fluid enough to be brushed 



426 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

out upon metals. That made from turpentine is the best 
to use, as the smell of the others is against them, es- 
pecially in interior work. It dries quickly and the 
operator must not wait too long in joining up, or a lap 
will result. Where registers or iron w'ork are to be 
coated over with it they can be warmed, then the var- 
nish will flow level and free of brush marks. 

Asphaltum varnish is useful also to the sign painter 
in show card writing and in the painting over of brass 
and copper plates for etching, and brass and metal 
signs. 

The above comprises about all the varnishes useful 
to the painters. 

QUESTIONS ON VARNISHES. 

303. What is said of varnishes? 

304. How many classes of varnishes are there? 

305. Name the gum-resins chiefly used in the mak- 
ing of varnishes? 

306. Will it pay to make one's own varnishes ? 

307. What are gloss oil and the so called surfacers ? 

308. What other cheap varnishes are there? 

309. What grades of varnishes are chiefly useful in 
hardwood finishing? 

310. Name the principal carriage varnishes? 
.311. What is asphaltum varnish and what are its 



uses 



VARNISHING. 
312. The operation of varnishing, which is simple 
enough to look at, is, nevertheless, one which requires 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 427 

a great deal more knowledge than appears from simple 
casual observation. Everybody may put on paint so 
that it will look well and it would seem that any one 
could do the same with a varnish brush, but such is not 
the case. Good varnishers are the exception, and some 
men have tried for years to acquire the knack, but 
failed to do so. 

There are so many things to be taken into considera- 
tion in order to insure good varnishing that the wonder 
is, not that there are so few good varnishes, but that 
there is so much of it that is done that proves good as 
there is under such conditions as exist. 

313. a. Varnish, unlike paint, is most sensitive to 
the atmospheric and barometrical state of the weather. 
It is so sensitive that a draught of air will cause trouble 
in the varnish room, so that carriage factories, which 
are the only places where perfect conditions for do- 
ing perfect varnishing can be established, all have taken 
the greatest of care to guard against every element en- 
tering into the possibility of making trouble in the 
varnish rooms. 

As far as possible the varnish room is located 
farthest away from the blacksmith shop where 
sulphurous fumes are generated, and from which noxi- 
ous gases arise. To guard against draughts double 
windows should be used and a ventilating air shaft 
should carry out all the bad air of a varnish room and 
all outer air entering should be filtered free of dust. 

Steam coils and radiators are the only heat permissi- 



428 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

ble, as the varnish room should be maintained at a 
uniform degree of temperature during both the appHca- 
tion of the varnish and its drying. No varnishing can 
be done when the heat is below 70 degrees Fahrenheit, 
and the room should never be allowed to cool down be- 
low that. There is but little danger of trouble arising 
from overheating, but a great deal can be expected from 
sudden changes, and this is never allowed in a first class 
carriage factory. The greatest troubles arise from 
barometrical changes and these cannot be altogether 
guarded against. An exhaust fan and heat will help to' 
reduce damage by humidity to the lowest degree, and 
where draughts of the outer air are prevented there is 
usually no damage done. 

The above may cause dismay to the beginner and he 
may well think that if varnishing can only be done 
under such conditions he may as well give up any hopes 
of ever becoming a varnisher. In the above was given 
the description of a varnish room such as the better 
class of vehicle manufacturers actually do have, and 
where fine jobs are varnished. 

b. As all carriage shops, and especially the repair 
shops, cannot have such a varnish room, they have to 
put up with what they have and make out the best they 
can out of it. As each shop will have, probably, its own 
peculiar conditions each will have to adapt them so as to 
come as near to the description given of a first class 
one as it is possible for it to do so. The proper amount 
of heat must be maintained during the varnishing and 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 429 

drying. Dust must be kept down and out, and outer 
air, too, or there will be blooming and the looi var- 
nish deviltries to annoy and make one's life miserable. 

c The furniture factories are all equipped so as 
to obtain good results in their varnishing departments. 
While the usual class of furniture varnishing does not 
require the same amount of care as that which is done in 
the carriage shop, high grade polished furniture re- 
quires nearly if not quite as much precautions. Even 
for the very cheapest grades of furniture, the least speck 
of dust will hurt the looks of the cheapest kind of 
finish and that must be guarded against. So the var- 
nish rooms of such establishments should, and are 
usually equipped so as to prevent changes of tem- 
perature and dust nearly as thoroughly as first class 
carriage shops are. 

d. The painters and hardwood finishers who have 
the interior of a new house to finish and complete are 
not so fortunately situated for doing their varnishing 
and they must make out the best they can. Yet they will 
be expected to turn out perfect work and as it is lo- 
cated where it will be under the constant vision of the 
occupants the least flaw in the work will be sure to be 
found out and to be brought home to them oftener than 
they like. 

In the summer and early autumn they can manage 
fairly well ; the rooms should be dusted over and over 
again until there is an assurance of every speck of it 
is out of the wSy, and the wood work as well as the 



430 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

floors and walls should be wiped with a damp chamois 
skin, which will collect all that has been left after the 
dustings and sweepings. The doors and windows 
must be closed and the former locked to keep intruders 
and the dust they would bring — out. This exclusion 
must last not only during the time required for the 
application of the varnish, but also during the whole of 
the time required for its drying safely out of the way 
of dust sticking to it. 

It may seem puerile and harsh to keep out callers, 
but first class work cannot be done otherwise. After 
a room has been finished everything should be removed 
out of it into the next one to be varnished and the 
door locked so that not even the steps of the varnisher 
may cause a forgotten atom of dust to rise and fasten 
itself to the varnished surface. 

c. The above is plain sailing and very good varnish- 
ing can be done at that time of the year, but in cold 
weather the troubles begin. 

In houses which have a steam heating apparatus or 
a hot water system the difficulty will not be so great, 
but where the heating is by hot air or where it must be 
done with stoves, it is very troublesome. The tempera- 
ture must be maintained above 70 degrees, Fahr. It 
is difficult to establish an even heat, especially with 
stoves, and in the latter case dust galore will be sure to 
be raised. When the heating is done by stoves, it 
will be well to arrange it so that considerably more 
than 70 degrees may be present in tne room before 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 431 

the varnishing" begins, then to fill .the stoves and regu- 
late them to keep the heat going for several hours more 
without the having to touch them again after the var- 
nishing. After filling them up proceed to v^ipe up all 
dust with a chamois skin, slightly dampened, and go on 
with the varnishing, keeping out intruders until the 
varnish is dry. 

314. It is customary with a few varnishers to mix 
two kinds of varnishs together when they do their 
work. 

This should never be resorted to. When a varnish 
does not work well, better give it up and procure one 
that is better suited to the work being done. 

If the varnisher will bear in mind that the varnish he 
is using is probably the result of a blend made from 
several tanks of varnishes, which have been ripening 
for months and years at the factory, and that the manu- 
facturer who knows all the particulars and the peculiari- 
ties of every one of his tanks should certainly be the 
proper one to make the mixing, and that if he has failed 
to make it good, certainly the man who knows nothing 
whatever about that varnish or the one he mixes with 
it, will certainly make a mess, and probably a botch of 
it. 

Varnishes are tempered just right for their applica- 
tion at the factory, so they require no thinning with 
either turpentine or oil, especially the latter. Trouble 
in the shape of sweating and stickiness will surely fol- 
low such thinnings. 



432 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

The cheaper varnishes, composed nearly all of tur- 
pentine thinner, when long exposed to the air, may be- 
come too thick for application ; in such a case the addi- 
tion of turpentine is allowable but the varnish should 
first be warmed and the turpentine added and well in- 
corporated with it by shaking at intervals of fifteen 
minutes for an hour before using. 

315. When pouring out varnish to be used on a job, 
never pour out much more than is needed to complete 
the job. It is better to go again for more, if not 
enough. For varnish once taken out of the can and 
exposed to the air should never he poured hack into the 
can. How many painters have learned this lesson only 
after bitter experiences ! They will argue that it is 
foolish and that no possible harm can follow — and they 
learn after it is too late that it ruins a good varnish to 
pour it back and that it queers all the rest of it in the 
can. 

How and why it does so would be hard to explain, 
and it may remain one of the many other mysteries con- 
nected with varnish which no amount of reasoning can 
explain satisfactorarily to one seeking to understand it. 
Varnish is a touchy afifair — worse than an old maid to 
handle. It will only be handled in its own good way 
and no other. 

316. The tools required for varnishing will depend 
upon the kinds of varnishes used and also upon the 
surfaces to be gone over and the finish desired. The 
whole list of varnish brushes made from bristles, cam- 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 433 

el's hair, badger, sable, ox hair, etc., are used. They 
are shown in their varied shapes under Figs. 12, 15, 16, 
17, 31, 40 and 41. Varnish brushes should be well 
taken care of and each should be kept in an individual 
brush keeper, if possible, and hung in the kind of var- 
nish that it is used in, nor should it ever be used for 
any other. At least all the finishing and flowing var^ 
nish brushes should be so kept. Where the above is 
impossible, or when the varnish brushes are used in 
the cheaper varnishes, they may be hung up in linseed 
oil in such a keeper as is shown in Fig. 57. The lin- 
seed oil must be carefully washed out of the brushes 
with benzine or naptha before using again. 

317. The application proper of the varnish will now 
follow after all the precautions to guard against chances 
of the varnish going wrong have been taken. 

It is a simple enough looking affair and words will 
hardly convey the intelligence sufficiently clear to war- 
rant the reader in going ahead and undertaking to do a 
job of varnishing immediately upon his having read 
the "how to do it." 

He will probably know as much about it if told to 
dip his brush in the varnish pot and rub it on the sur- 
face where it is wanted as he would in a long essay 
which he will get mixed up in, and which will puzzle 
him much more than it will enlighten him. 

All there is in varnishing is the putting of it on sur- 
faces with a brush. The beginner should not attempt 
to put on the more difficult flowing coats until he has 



434 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

acquired the knack and use of the brush upon the 
varnishing of cheap yellow pine interior partitions or 
wood work. He should put on his varnish crosswise 
fit«t, and lay it off afterward the long way of the 
boards, using the tips of the brush to even it up nicely. 

One of the greatest drawbacks to the beginner in his 
attempts at applying varnish is his fear that he is put- 
ting on too much and that it will sag on him, therefore, 
he works and works it out to the last limit; he does 
what is known as "skinning it on" in varnish slang. 

Now, skinned on varnish never looks well and makes 
the job look like a man in a dress suit with plow shoes 
on. Varnish, to look well, must be put on full; if 
it be the right sort for the purpose it will not be any 
more likely to sag put on full than it will otherwise 
unless it is grossly overdone. The work, too, will be 
much freer of brush marks, as it will tend to flow 
toj,'ether and to fiill up the gaps left by the hair of 
the varnish brush. Skimpy varnishing will show every 
one of these and much more specks of dust, which a 
heavy coat will absorb and into which they will sink be- 
low the surface. 

Many varnishers among the wood finishers and car- 
riage shop operators when varnishing on the best work, 
lay on the varnish full, but evenly; vertically first, and 
then square it up horizontally. It will not prevent sag- 
ging of varnish that has not been put on evenly, but 
where it has been evenly and fully applied it will give 
the varnish coat the best chance of setting without sags. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 435 

It is hoped that the novice in varnish application will 
not be deterred from trying his skill by whatever may 
have been said regarding the difficulties that go along 
with it. The causes of trouble being known, it is possi- 
ble, with a little trouble, to circumvent them so that 
they become harmless. 

Some men are born good varnishers and fall into 
the right way of it like a gosling to a pond of water, 
and no one knows till they try what they may be capable 
of. With care, the proper use of the brush can be 
acquired when it is not natural to a person. It is, of 
course, much more pleasant to have been born a var- 
nisher, but some of the best varnishers commenced by 
aggravated cases of sagging in their first attempts at 
it. "Try, try again," is a good motto if it is old 
fashioned. The man who is observant will note where 
he has erred and the next job will be more perfect be- 
cause the experience had on the former one will guard 
him against committing the same mistake again; such 
men will grow into good varnishers. 

QUESTIONS ON VARNISHING. 

312. What is said of varnishing in general? 

313. a. What conditions are required for good 

varnishing? 

b. How should the varnish room be ar- 

ranged in carriage shops? 

c. How should varnish rooms be arranged 

in furniture factories? 



436 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

d. How should the interior of houses be pre- 
pared for the varnishing in cold 
weather? 

314. Should two kinds of varnish be mixed to- 
gether before aplying? 

315. When there is a surplus of varnish left over 
after a job is done, should it be poured back in the can? 

316. What tools are needed in varnishing? 

317. iEiow is varnish applied? 

VEHICLES. 

318. The term "vehicle" has a double signification 
in the paint trade. To the carriage painter it means 
one thing and to all the others it means another. To 
the carriage painter it means anything made that will 
carry persons — coaches, carriages, buggies, phaetons, 
landaus, etc., etc. — and what the others know as ve- 
hicles he calls thinners. 

There is a tendency towards a more uniform designa- 
tion for the liquids used in the application of paint and 
thinners are becoming generally used by all kinds of 
painters. 

Vehicle, which means a carrier of something, is still 
used widely, and is certainly most appropriate for the 
purpose that liquids are employed — the carrying of the 
pigment in the paint in which they enter. 

319. Some vehicles contain within themselves the 
binding qualities which serve to hold the pigment firmly 
where it has been applied in the painting. Others do 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 437 

not, and such must have had some substances dissolved 
through their agency which upon the evaporation or 
drying of the vehicle will remain and bind the pigment 
firmly. 

320. The fixed oils are of the first character. They 
contain within themselves the drying and solidifying 
properties necessary to hold the paint, which in their 
liquid condition they served to convey to the surfaces 
painted. As all have been already reviewed, and their 
properties noted in the section headed, "Oils and 
Driers," the reader is referred to what is said con- 
cerning them in Paragraphs 194 to 202. 

320. The volatile oils are used more as adjuncts 
to the fixed oils, japans and varnishes, than they are al- 
together alone — as they possess no binding qualities of 
their own whatever. These, too, have been fully de- 
scribed under the heading of oils and driers in Para- 
graphs 203 to 208, to which the reader is referred for 
fuller information. 

321. Japans, varnishes, etc., are used almost ex- 
clusively in the painting of carriages, car and vehicle 
painting of every sort. These, being compounds, owe 
their binding qualities aside of that of linseed oil, which 
they may carry in their composition to such gums or 
gum resins which enter into them. Drying hard, they 
pave the way for good varnishing over them, and will 
not sweat through as oil coats would. 

322. Water is the vehicle used in all water color 
or distemper work. Water, having no binding proper- 



438 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

ties of its own, must have some binding substances 
added to it and which must be soluble in it in order 
that the colors applied through its medium will stay 
where they are placed. Many substances soluble in 
water will do this nicely. Some of the vegetable gums 
as gum arabic, for instance, make excellent binders for 
water colors, and but for their cost and scarcity would 
be used much more extensively than they are. As it is, 
their use is chiefly confined to artists who paint in water 
colors. Should it be used in the quantity required for 
binding one-hundreth part of the water colors used in 
wall coloring, there would be a howl about the price 
jumping away up above the already very high cost of 
it, as it is now. 

Gum Tragacanth, and other gums, have been used 
in a small way for certain specific purposes, but none 
possess any value worth considering, except gum 
arabic, which, it is seen, cannot be obtained in sufficient 
quantity nor at such a price as to make its use possible 
in general house work. 

^22. Glues are the only material which the calci- 
miner and water color decorator can use. While they 
are not as clean as gum arabic and will deteriorate 
much quicker in warm weather, upon the whole, they 
have answered well the purposes for which they are 
used — of binding the colors. 

There is much variation in the qualities of glues. 
They are made from the offals of animals derived from 
skin clippings, hoofs, bones, etc. ; those parts which 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 439 

otherwise would have little value. Some of the strong- 
est glues are made grom the bladders and intestines of 
fish. 

Glues may be put into three general classes : 

1. Derived from fish, 

2. From clippings of hides, and cartilagenous parts 
of animals. 

3. From the boiling of bones. 

The first, when made exclusively from fish bladders 
and intestines, are the strongest and clearest. The sec- 
ond, made from animals' skins, is but little inferior to 
that made from fish and are very strong, too. The 
thin calcimine grades of light cream color are the best 
to use for color binding. The thin calcimine glue of an 
opaque white color is usually adulterated with some 
make-weight material, so that notwithstanding their 
good looks they are not so strong as the light buff-col- 
ored, semi-transparent kinds. 

The third class of glues, made from bones, are not 
as strong as the others. They are cheaper in price, but 
dearer in the end. 

323. There is an easy way to determine the value of 
a glue. While it may be called "empirical," one can 
attain to something near its worth by a simple process 
of weighing, say, one ounce of glue, and putting it to 
soak for a day. It must then be drained of water and 
re-weighed. Glue should absorb about eighteen times 
its former weight of water. If it falls much below that 
it will not be as strong as it should be, and, conse- 



440 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

quently, more of it must be used to accomplish the 
same amount of binding that a lesser quantity of 
stronger glue would do. 

QUESTIONS ON VEHICLES OR THINNERS. 

318. What is understood by the word, "vehicle?" 

319. What are the fixed oils? 

320. What is said of volatile oils? 

321. In what way are japans and varnishes used as 
vehicles ? 

322. How many classes of glue are there? 
^2^. How can good glue be determined? 

WATER COLORS. 

324. As to all intents and purposes water color 
painting-distemper painting, fresco painting in water 
colors and calcimining are all one and the same thing, 
and as under each of those headings full directions are 
given for the treatment of walls and for the application 
of colors, and, under, "Mixing of Colors," as to their 
preparation for use — the reader is referred to those 
headings for any information he may desire about wale? 
colors, either for their application upon walls in plmr 
tints, or as used in decorations as in "fresco/* etc. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 441 

WALL DECORATION— HIGHLIGHT OIL- 
COLOR METHOD 

There is no branch of painting and decorating which 
offers the painter such opportunities for making money 
as painting and decorating of plaster walls. One mis- 
conception still prevents many people from giving seri- 
ous consideration to substituting paint for wall paper 
and that is the impression that unless one goes in for 
expensive work a wall can be painted only in a plain 
color, with perhaps a stencil decoration. When you 
speak of a "painted wall" one thinks of it as a cal- 
cimined wall, only perhaps more durable. When you 
speak of a "decorated wall" one thinks of freehand 
decorations or, perhaps in a hazy way, of Tiffany glaze 
color work, which appear entirely too expensive even to 
be thought of. 

These objections are both removed by the highlight 
method of wall decoration and every painter who is not 
now using this method, whether he knows it by that 
name or not, is earnestly advised to look into it care- 
fully, do some experimental work on his own account 
and then equip himself to go out and sell it. 

This method of decorating plaster walls produces a 
general effect that is commonly associated with high 
class artistic and expensive decorations. It is no more 
expensive to produce than ordinary two-coat solid color 
work and can readily be sold for fifty per cent more. It 
does not require highly skilled workmanship. It will 
not show dust accumulations or dirty spots quickly and 



442 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

will stand repeated washings without streaking. It 
will hide fire cracks and other defects in the plaster and 
may be applied directly to rough or smooth plaster, can- 
vas, or wall board. It has everything to commend it to 
the painter who is looking for a wider and more profit- 
able market for his work and to lift himself out of the 
ordinary class of work where price competition is un- 
bearable. 

The fundamental idea of the highlight method is to 
apply a ground coat of white or some light tinted lead 
and oil paint, over which is applied a darker harmoniz- 
ing or contrasting color broken up by a pattern which 
will permit the ground color to show through. It dif- 
fers from Tiffany glazing in that ordinary lead and oil 
paint is used for the second coat instead of transparent 
colors and that seldom more than two colors are used. 

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with 
this method, it is here described in detail. 

Old Walls. — Prepare and patch as for ordinary 
painting. 

New Smooth Plaster or New Wall Board. — Size 
with first class hard gum varnish (interior spar is 
good) , not gloss oil. Thin with turpentine and add just 
enough lead tinted same as the ground coat is to be to 
give color and cover only fairly well. 

Muslin or Canvas Covered Walls. — First coat with 
lead and linseed oil, tinted to suit. Follow with good 
varnish size, if needed. Glue size will do. 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 443 

From this point on the method to pursue is practi- 
cally the same for each kind of wall. 

Let us say a dining room is to be finished. The usual 
plate rail divides the walls into a "dado" below and a 
"filling" above. The wood trim and furniture are of a 
medium dark weathered or Jacobean finished oak. The 
rug is chiefly a medium dark delft blue but has also a 
gray tone in general. Leather chair seats are delft blue. 

With such furnishings a two-toned light warm gray 
treatment of the walls would appear well. If the wood 
trim were white or gray enamel the success of such a 
wall treatment would be greater. It is seldom that the 
wood trim in average American homes is finished to 
fit furniture and rugs, although that is customary in 
the older European countries. The trim in this instance 
is not out of harmony, but it doesn't contribute very 
much. 

Ground Coat. — Mix the lightest gray paint possible, 
and yet have it cover pretty well, by adding a bit of 
lamp black and of raw umber to a Carter Lead base. 
Thin with about one-third turpentine and two-thirds, 
linseed oil. Brush on in the usual manner and let dry. 
There is some advantage in stippling this coat as 
roughly as possible, especially hard, smooth walls, but it 
is not necessary. This ground coat goes over all walls 
and the ceiling. 

When an especially fine job is wanted for a dining 
room dado, a cafe, theatre foyer or hotel lobby, the 
ground coat may be mixed from ordinary radiator 



444 Modern Paint e/s Cyclopedia 

bronze powder and the bronzing liquid or good varnish 
cut with turpentine. It may be gold, aluminum or cop- 
per. Sometimes two are mixed to advantage. Brush 
on the bronze in the usual manner, taking care to avoid 
having laps and joints show. Such a metal ground 
gives a brilliant and beautiful surface, having great 
depth of color, especially when a transparent color is 
used over it as a stipple coat. It may be given a very 
thin coat of wax or flat varnish if desired after the 
stipple coat to keep the metal from tarnishing for a 
much longer time. 

When the first coat has become dry on the ceiling lay 
on a second of gray-white and the ceiling is finished. 

Stipple Coat. — Mix from white lead, adding only as 
much lamp black and raw umber as will make the coat 
enough darker than the ground coat to give a good con- 
trast. It ought still to remain a very light gray. Thin 
entirely with turpentine for a dead flat effect. Add a 
little linseed oil if an eggshell gloss is wanted. Mix to 
ordinary brushing consistency usually. If mixed 
thicker the finish will have a generally darker appear- 
ance and a rougher pattern, which may or may not be 
wanted, depending upon what kind of room is being 
decorated. When mixed thinner the effect will be 
lighter in color and finer in pattern. 

Now with the ground coat dry the stipple finishing 
coat is put on not with a brush but with a large washing 
sponge, the larger the better. When new the sponge 
will give a coarse, rough pattern desirable for some 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 445 

rooms. An old, used sponge produces a fine, even pat- 
tern. Cutting the sharp projections off of a new sponge 
with the shears causes it to give about the same effect as 
a worn sponge. 

Secure a piece of sheet iron or tin a foot or two 
square. With a flat wall brush flow on a full, stout coat 
of the gray paint. Soak your sponge in water to soften 
and swell it and then wring out as much water as you 
can. Pick up this paint from the sheet iron with the 
flat side of the sponge and transfer it to the wall, using 
the sponge as you would a stippling brush but more 
slowly. Press it against the wall quite hard and pull it 
straight away without twisting the hand. Repeat the 
operation to carry the stretch down the wall from pic- 
ture mould to plate rail, returning to the sheet iron to 
pick up more paint as needed. If you get too much 
paint on one spot leave it for a few seconds and work 
the material out of the sponge on new portions. Then 
return to it. By pressing the sponge against the surface 
real hard you can pick up excess paint. If necessary 
wash out the sponge with benzine or use a clean one, 
but you must work fast. Go over each spot as few 
times as possible. Once over to transfer the paint to the 
surface and once to smooth out the joints are really 
necessary. The accomplishment in this class of work 
is to knozv -when to quit. Judge the appearance of the 
work from across the room, not nearby. When one wall 
has been done, be sure to match the others to it, allow- 



446 Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 

ing for the darker walls in shadows. All should carry 
the same depth of color and amount of pattern. 

When working on a very porous wall it is often best 
to coat the wall before any of the stipple coat has been 
put on with a glazing liquid composed of one part lin- 
seed oil, raw, two parts turpentine and one part benzine. 
That enables you to move the color on the surface more 
easily. Do not wait for the glazing liquid to dry. 

When the upper wall has been finished all around as 
above, the lower section may be treated in exactly the 
same manner after making the paint a few degrees- 
darker. 

The finish just described produced with the sponge 
is but one of many which result from using the same 
method in all respects except that a stippling brush, a 
wad of cheese cloth, crepe paper, muslin or burlap are 
substituted for the sponge. The stippling brush used 
like the sponge gives a finer textured surface. The 
crepe paper, cheese cloth and burlap also produce fine, 
simple patterns but slightly different from each other. 
The heavy muslin when crumpled up into a wad gives 
an especially pleasing pattern resembling the figure of 
Spanish leather when done in the burnt umber or Van 
Dyke brown over a ground coat of ivory. The mate- 
rials or tools just mentioned are used in exactly the 
same manner as the sponge except that it is usually ad- 
visable to twist the hand with them when stippling the 
surface and it is not with the sponge. 

Color Schemes. — All combinations of opaque and 



Modern Painter's Cyclopedia 



447 



transparent colors, as well as tints and shades made 
with these colors on a white lead base, are used in the 
manner described for the two-toned gray dining room. 
Not all colors used together will harmonize, nor are all 
color combinations and stipple patterns suitable for 
every room. When two tones of the same color are 
used, harmony is certain. 



HERE ARE A FEW PRETTY COLOR COMBINATIONS: 



Ground 
Coat 


Stipple 
Coat 


Materials 


Stencil 
Color 


White 


Light Rose 


American Vermilion 
and Carter Lead 


Medium Light Gray 


White 


Light Gray 


Lamp Black and 
Carter Lead 


Dull Blue, Gray- Green 
or a Darker Gray 


White 


Light Warm 
Yellow 


Med. Chrome Yellow, 
little Vermilion and 
Carter Lead 


Light Cobalt Blue, 
neutral Light Drab 


Light 
Gray 


Same gray, a 
little darker 


Lamp Black 
Raw Umber 


Gray, Gray-Green or 
light Cobalt Blue 


Light 
Gray 


Light Blue 


Cobalt Blue only 


Gray, Blue or a Ligh; 
Orange Yellow 


Light 
Gray 


Green 


Med. Chrome 
Green only 


Light Gray 
Neutral Drab 


Ivory 


Olive Green 


Med. Chrome Green, 
French Ochre, 
Carter Lead 


Ivory or Grayish 
Light Green 


Light Col- 
onial Yellow 


Light Blue 


Cobalt Blue 
Carter Lead 


Neutral Gray, Ivory 


Gold 
Bronze 


Dark Green 


Med. Chrome 
Green only 


Light Warm Drab, 
Medium Olive, Warm 
Gray, Cream 


Aluminum 
Bronze 


Blue 


Cobalt Blue only 


Delft Blue, Light Ivory, 
Light Neutral Gray 


Ivory 


Tan 


Raw Sienna only 


Brown — Burnt Umber 
Cream 


Ivory 


Dark Brown 


Burnt Umber only 


Light Tan, cream 
Light Gray Drab 



KEY TO PLATES 

All plates shown have been photographed from actual work in 
graining and marbling done by students at the Chicago School 
of Painting, Decorating and Paper Hanging. 

Plate I 
Door in oak heart growth done in water colors. 

Plate II 
Door in quartered oak in oil — (wiped out). 

Plate III 
Door in black walnut; stippled and veined in water colors. 

Plate IV 
Door in walnut root or curled walnut, in water colors. 

Plate V 
Door in mahogany, in water colors. 

Plate VI 
Dado panelled up in mahogany in water colors, 

Plate VII 

Dado — in marbles — panels are various colored and formations 

.if marble, stiles and upper slabs, white and black veined — base 
in black, white veined. 

Plate VIII 
Two panelled cupboard doors — top one in conglomerate sienna, 
the bottom in veined fissured sienna marble, surrounding stiling 
in black veined white marble. 



INDEX 

A 

PAGE 

Acacia tint — how to make 143 

Acorn tint — how to make 143 

Action of volatile oils on paint 285 

Adulterant used mainly for heavy colors 114 

Advertising bulletin signs — how painted 386 

Agate marbling — how done 270 

Alabaster tint — how made 143 

Alderney brown tint — how made 143 

Aluminous earths whites 103 

Amaranth tint — how made 143 

American process white zinc 112 

American vermillion 118 

Anemone tint — how made , 143 

Antique bronze tint — how made 143 

Antwerp blue tint — how made 143 

Apple green tint — how made 144 

Apricot tint — how made - 144 

Armenian red tint — how made 144 

Artists' round and flat lining brushes 41 

Asiatic bronze tint — how made 144 

Ash tint — how made 144 

Ash — graining of 255 

Ash grey tint — how made 144 

Asphaltum varnish for iron work 424 

Autumn leaf tint — how made 144 

Azure blue tint — how made 144 

B 

Banana oil — as size for bronzing 2x3 

Barytes — as an adulterant of colors 114 

Barytes — as an adulterant of white lead 114 



Index 

Base-color for mixing tints 142 

Bath tub enamel painting — general remarks on 294 

Bath tub enamel painting — how done 295 

Bath tub enamel painting — how to prepare for 295 

Bay tint — how made 144 

Begonia tint — how made 144 

Benzine — what it is 290 

Bird's ej'e maple — how to grain 254 

Bismark brown tint — how made 144 

Black and gold marble — how imitated 266 

Blacks — black lead or plumbago 132 

Blacks — Brunswick 132 

Blacks — carbon or gas 131 

Blacks — coach 132 

Blacks — drop 132 

Blacks — general remarks on 131 

Blacks — ivory 131 

Blacks — lamp 131 

Black slate tint — how made 144 

Blistering of paint — causes of 18 

Blistering of paint — general remarks on 17 

Blistering of paint — heat 19 

Blistering of paint — moisture 17 

Blistering of paint — why 20 

Body of colors — how to test for it 162 

Boiled linseed oil — what it is 283 

Bordeaux blue tint — how made 145 

Borders — how to hang 145 

Bottle green tint — how to make 145 

Brass tint— how to make 145 

Brick tint — how to make , 145 

Brick color — in scene painting 357 

Brick — how to flat 203 

Bronze blue tint — how made 145 

Bronze green tint — how made 145 

Bronze red tint — how made 145 

Bronze yellow — how made 145 

Bronzing — how to apply it 230 

Bronzing — how to size for it 231 



Index 



Bronzing — various colors, its 23I 

Brocatello marble — how imitated 267 

Browns and drabs tints — how made 145 

Browns — general remarks on 128 

Browns — metallic 130 

Browns — siennas — raw and burnt 129 

Browns — Spanish 130 

Browns — stone tint — how made 145 

Browns — umbers — raw and burnt 129 

Brushes — badger hair 26 

Brushes — bear hair 26 

Brushes — black sable hair 26 

Brushes — camel hair 27 

Brushes — ^fitch hair 26 

Brushes — general remarks on 25 

Brushes — hog bristles 27 

Brushes — material used in making 25 

Brushes — red sable hair 26 

Brushes — Siberian ox hair 26 

Brushes — badger hair — ^blenders, bone heads 45 

Brushes — tampico fibre 27 

Brushes — badger hair — ^blenders, round in quill 45 

Brushes — badger hair — flat varnish 44 

Brushes — badger hair — gliders' tips 44 

Brushes — bear hair — flat varnish 51 



Brushes — ^br 
Brushes — b 
Brushes — ^br 
Brushes — ^br 
Brushes — br 
Brushes — br 
Brushes — br 
Brushes — ^br 
Brushes — br 
Brushes — br 
Brushes — br 
Brushes — ^br 
Brushes — br: 
Brushes — br 
Brushes — br: 



stle — artists' round and flat liners 41 

stle — ^brick liners 42 

stle^-calcimine 29 

stle— car scrub , 34 

stle — dusters round and flat 33 

stle — fan overgrainers , 42 

stle — fresco liners round and flat 43 

stle — furniture rubbing 45 

stle — glue 34 

stle — mottlers for graining 44 

stle — oval varnish 32 

stle — oval wall paint 30 

stle — sash tools 34 

stle — smoothing for paper hanging 42 

stle — spoke 34 



Index 

Brushes — bristle — stencil 37 

Brushes — bristle — stippler for flatting wall 30 

Brushes — bristle — stippler for graining 42 

Brushes — bristle — varnish 36 

Brushes — bristle — wall painting 31 

Brushes — bristle — wax floor polishing 40 

Brushes — camel's hair — artists' 54 

Brushes — camel's hair — coach color 50 

Brushes — camel's hair — lacquering 53 

Brushes — camel's hair — lettering 53 

Brushes — camel's hair — mottling 53 

Brushes — camel's hair — striping 53 

Brushes — camel's hair — varnish 51 

Brushes — fitch — varnish 50 

Brushes — general remarks on 28 

Brushes — material used in making 29 

Brushes — ox hair — lettering 47 

Brushes — ox hair — striping 47 

r.iushes — ox hair — varnish 47 

Brushes — sable (red and black) — artists' 50 

Brushes — sable (red and black) — lettering and striping 50 

Brushes — sable (red and black) — one stroke lettering 50 

Brushes — sable (red and black) — varnish 51 

Burlap — how to hang 326 

Burled walnut — how to grain 258 

Buttercup tint — how made 146 

C 

Cafe au lait tint — how made 146 

Calcimining — general remarks on 57 

Calcimining — proper conditions for 63 

Calcimining — to stop suction on walls in 65 

Calcimining — tools needed in 59 

Cambridge red tint — how made 146 

Canary tint — how made 146 

Car or carriage painting — color coats in 84 

Car or carriage painting — coloring a white job in 85 

Car or carriage painting — knifing in coats in 80 

Car or carriage painting — general remarks on 70 



Index 

Car or carriage painting — guide coats in 84 

Car or carriage painting — ornamentation in 87 

Car or carriage painting — putty and puttying in 80 

Car or carriage painting — rough stuff in 82 

Car or carriage painting — rubbing rough stuff 82 

Car or carriage painting — sandpapering on 82 

Car or carriage painting — sign painting in 87 

Car or carriage painting — striping on 87 

Car or carriage painting — transfers on 87 

Car or carriage painting — varnishing on 83 

Carnation tint — how made 146 

Ceilings — how to hang with wall paper 324. 

Celestial blue tint — how made 146 

Cement — to gaint in exterior painting 188 

Cerulean blue tint — how made 146 

Chamois tint — how made 146 

Chamoline tint — how made 146 

Chartreuse tint — how made 146 

Chestnut tint — how made 146 

China painting — general remarks on 9-1. 

China painting — how to paint on 97 

China painting — material used for 95 

China painting — tools used in 96 

China painting — vitrifying the colors 98 

Chocolate tint — how made 146 

Cinnamon tint — how made 147 

Claret tint — how made 147 

Claybank tint — how made 147 

Clay drab tint — how made 147 

Cleaning for wall paper — how made 327 

Cloud color in scene painting 356 

Cobalt blue tint — how made 147 

Cocroanut brown tint — how made 147 

Colonial yellow tint— how made 147 

Colors — baryta white — its uses 99 

Colors — blacks — Brunswick 132 

Colors — blacks — carbon 131 

Colors — blacks — coach 132 

Colors — blacks — drop 'ii^ 

Colors — blacks — gas 131 



Index 

Colors — blacks — general remarks on 131 

Colors — blacks — ivory 131 

Colors — blacks — lamp 131 

Colors — blacks — lead or plumbago 132 

Colors — blues — cerulean 126 

Colors — blues — cobalt 125 

Colors — ^blues — general remarks on 125 

Colors — ^blues — indigo 126 

Colors — blues — Prussian 125 

Colors — blues — ultramarine 125 

Colors — browns — general remarks upon 12S 

Colors — browns — metallic 130 

Colors — browns — umber — burnt and raw 129 

Colors — browns — siennas — burnt and raw 129 

Colors — browns — Vandyke i'29 

Colors — greens — chrome 127 

Colors — greens — cobalt or zinc 127 

Colors — greens — general remarks on 127 

Colors — greens — Paris 127 

Colors — greens — ultramarine 127 

Colors^-^greens — viridian 127 

Colors — greens — zinc or cobalt 127 

Colors — greens — verdigris 128 

Colors — reds — American vermillion 118 

Colors — reds — Chinese vermillion 1 19 

Colors — reds — English vermillion 118 

Colors — reds — general remarks on 115 

Colors — reds — imitation vermillions 120 

Colors — reds — Indian 116 

Colors — reds — lakes 121 

Colors — reds — orange mineral 118 

Colors — reds — oxide of iron 115 

Colors — reds — Pompeian 116 

Colors — reds — red lead 118 

Colors — red — Tuscan 117 

Colors — reds — Venetian 115 

Colors — whites — aluminous white earths 103 

Colors — whites — American zinc white ill 

Colors — whites — cretaceous earth whites 103 

Colors — whites — general remarks on 102 



Index 

Colors — whites — silicious earth whites 103 

Colors — whites — white lead — Dutch process described 104 

Colors — whites — white lead — stack system described 105 

Colors — whites — white lead — sublimed 107 

Colors — whites — zinc white — American process 112 

Colors — whites — zinc white — French process no 

Colors — whites — zinc white — general remarks on 108 

Colors — whites — zinc white — process of manufacturing 109 

Colors — yellows — chrome yellows 122 

Colors — yellows — general remarks on 121 

Colors — yellows — ochres 121 

Colors — yellows — other yellows 124 

Colors — yellows — yellow lakes 124 

Color testing — general remarks on 158 

Color testing — how to determine their purity 159 

Color testing — how to determine fineness of grinding 160 

Color testing — how to determine strength of coloring 163 

Color testing — how to determine body and spreading 162 

Conditions required for good varnishing 135 

Contrasting harmony — primaries, secondaries and tertiaries. .136 

Copper tint — how made 147 

Coral pink tint — how made , 147 

Cotrine tint — how made 147 

Cream tint — how made 147 

Crimson tint — how made .' 147 

Curled maple — how to grain 254 

D 

Damar varnish — its uses in enamelling 199 

Dead flat— in flatting 204 

Dead leaf color — to make in scene painting 356 

Designing stencils — in stencilling 405 

Distant foliage — in scene painting 356 

Distemper painting — in fresco 207 

Dove marble — how imitated 264 

Dove tint — how made 147 

Dregs of wine tint — how made 147 

Drop black — its uses (see colors) 132 

Dr>-ers for paint — its uses 290 



Index 

Dry paste powders in paper hanging 319 

Dusters (see brushes) 2>i 

Dutch process white lead (see colors) 104 

E 

Ecru tints — how made 148 

Egg shell gloss — in flatting 203 

Egyptian green tint — how made 148 

Egyptian green marble — how imitated 264 

Electric blue tint — how made 148 

Emerald blue tint — how made 148 

Enamelling — general remarks on 197 

Enamelling — how applied 198 

Enamelling — in white and gold 2op 

English Vermillion (see colors) 118 

Estimating 165 

Extension walking boards (see painters' tools) 340 

Exterior painting 174 

F 

Fan overgrainers (see brushes) 42 

Fawn tint — how made 148 

Flesh color tint — how made 148 

Filling for old wooden buildings I93 

Fire reflection tint in scene painting 356 

Fitch varnish brushes (see brushes) 50 

Fixed oils (see oils) 276 

Flatting — brick painting on exteriors 192 

Flatting— dead flatting 204 

Flatting — egg shell gloss 203 

Flatting — how to prepare for 203 

Flatting — in interior painting 205 

Flatting — stippling it 205 

Florentine marble — how imitated 266 

Foliage (distant) in scene painting 35^ 

French blue tint — how made 148 

French grey tint — how made 148 

French red tint — ^how made 148 

Fresco — fire cracks — how to kill 207 

Fresco — general remarks on ^ 206 



Index 

Fresco — in oil 206 

Fresco — in water colors 205 

Fresco — material needed in 211 

Fresco — tools needed 211 

Furniture rubbing brushes 45 

G 

Gas or carbon black (see colors) 131 

Gasoline torches for burning off paint 335 

Gazelle tint — how made 148 

General remarks on adulteration 8 

General remarks on blistering of paint 18 

General remarks on brushes 22 

General remarks on calcimining 57 

General remarks on carriage painting 70 

General remarks on china painting 94 

General remarks on colors 131 

General remarks on color harmony 135 

General remarks on color mixing of tints 140 

General remarks on color testing 159 

General remarks on enamelling 197 

General remarks on estimating 165 

General remarks on exterior painting 174 

General remarks on fresco painting 206 

General remarks on gilding 215 

General remarks on graining 241 

General remarks on marbling 260 

General remarks on oils and dryers 279 

General remarks on paperhangers' tools 301 

General remarks on painters' tools 329 

General remarks on scene painting 343 

General remarks on sign painting 359 

General remarks on stains and staining 390 

General remarks on stencilling 402 

General remarks on varnishes 41S 

General remarks on varnishing 426 

General remarks on white lead (see colors) 104 

General remarks on zinc white (see colors) 112 

Geranium tint — how made 14? 



Index 

Gilders' tip — (see brushes) 44 

Gilding — ductibility of gold 218 

Gilding — gold and its alloys 219 

Gilding — in oil on wood, etc 221 

Gilding — japan gold size 224 

Gilding — preparing fat oil size for 220 

Gilding — preparing wood and other surfaces for 225 

Gilding on glass — how to apply the gold 22y 

Gilding on glass — how to prepare the size 227 

Gilding on glass — how to back up the gold 228 

Gilding on glass — how to make a gilder's cushion 228 

Glue brushes (see brushes) 34 

Graining — ash, how done 255 

Graining — chestnut, how done 257 

Graining — cherry, how done 253 

Graining — oak, how done 244 

Graining — mahogany, how done 256 

Graining — maple, how done 254 

Graining — rosewood, how done 243, 257 

Graining — satinwood, how done 257 

Graining — sycamore, how done 257 

Graining — walnut, how done 258 

Granite stone — how imitated 272 

Grass green tint in scene painting 357 

Granite blue tint — how made 149 

^ray green tint — how made 149 

Gray stone tint — how made 149 

Grays, all shades — how made 149 

Gray drab tints — how made 149 

Greens — (see colors) 127 

Green stone tint — how made 149 

H 

Hanging wall paper — ceilings 324 

Hanging wall paper — walls 222, 

Hanging wall paper — borders 325 

Hanging burlaps 326 

Harmony of color by analogy 134 

Harmony of color by contrast J35 



Index 

Hay color tint — ^how made 150 

Heliotrope — how made 150 

Highlight oil-color method of wall decoration 441 

How to clean wall paper and distemper work 327 

How to enamel interior wood work 197 

How to gild on glass 362 

How to gild on wood, etc 361 

How to paint brick buildings 203 

How to paint cement buildings 204 

How to paint iron buildings 202 

How to paint stone buildings 203 

How to paint imitation agate marble 270 

How to paint imitation brocatello marble 267 

How to paint imitation black and gold marble 266 

How to Paint imitation dove marble 264 

How to paint imitation Egyptian green marble 266 

How to paint Florentine marble 266 

How to paint granite marble 270 

How to paint — general remarks on marble 260 

How to paint Italian pink marble 268 

How to paint jasper marble 272 

How to paint red porphyry marble 271 

How to paint sienna marble 268 

How to paint white veined marble 269 

How to paint Swedish porphyry marble 271 

How to paint Swiss porphyry marble 271 

How to prepare dry- paste for paper hanging 3^9 

How to prepare flour paste for paper hanging 319 

How to prepare priming coat for exterior painting 176 

How to prepare second coat for exterior painting 178 

How to prepare size for gilding 65 

How to prepare size for walls 216 

How to prepare third coat in exterior painting 179 

How to test for adulterations in colors 8, 158 

How to test for amount of adulteration in colors n 

How to test with scale test 10 

How to use scale test for white lead 12 

How to tint oil colors ^40 

How to tint water colors ^4i 



Index 

I 

indian red (see colors) Ii6 

Indian yellow (see colors) 124 

Indigo (see colors) 126 

Indian brown tint — how made , 150 

Indian red tint — how made 150 

Iron tint — how made 150 

Iron buildings — how to paint 150 

Ivy green tint — how made \ 150 

Italian pink marble — how imitated 268 

J 

Japans and varnishes as vehicles 29Q 

Japan dryers in painting 291 

Japan gold size 291 

Jasper tint — how to make 150 

Jasper stone — how to imitate 272 

Jonquil tint — how made 150 

K 

Knifing in lead in carriage painting 80 

Knives — casing in paperhangers' tools 310 

Knives — putty knives in painters' tools 334 

Knives — rotary in paperhangers' tools 309 

Knives — scraping in paperhangers' tools 333 

L 

Ladders — in painters' tools 336 

Ladders step — in painters' tools 330 

Ladders jacks — in painters' tools 237 

Lakes all kinds — (see painters' colors) 121 

Lamp black — (see colors) 131 

Lavender oil — in china painting 96 

Lavender tint — how made ISO 

Laying out the design in scene painting 353 

Lead color tint — how made 150 

Leaf buds tint — hnw made 150 



Index 

Leather tint — how made 150 

Lemon tint — how made 150 

Lilac tint — how made 150 

Linseed oil in oils and driers 273 

Linseed oil (boiled) in oils and driers 283 

Location for scene painting studio 344 

London smoke tint — how made 150 

M 

^lagenta tint — how made 151 

Mahogany — how grained 256 

Manilla tint — how made 151 

Maple — how grained 254 

Marbling — agate, how imitated 270 

Marbling — brocatello, how imitated 267 

Marbling — black and gold, how imitated 266 

Marbling — dove, how imitated 264 

Marbling — Egyptian green, how imitated 266 

Marbling — Florentine, how imitated 266 

Marbling — general remarks on 260 

Marbling — granites, how imitated 272 

Marbling — Italian pink, how imitated 26S 

Marbling — jasper, how imitated 272 

Marbling — material used in imitated 261 

Marbling — red porphyr}', how imitated 271 

Marbling — serpentine, how imitated 267 

Marbling — sienna, how imitated 268 

Marbling — Swedish porphyry, how imitated 271 

Marbling — Swiss porphyry, how imitated 271 

Marbling — tools used in 261 

Marigold tint — how made 151 

Maroon tint — how made 151 

Mastic tint — how made iSi 

Mascot tint — how made iSi 

Material used in brush manufacture 29 

Material used in calcimining 57 

Material used in carriage painting 7^ 

Material used in china painting 95 

Material used in fresco painting 211 



Index 

Material used in graining painting 253 

Material used in scene painting 345 

Material used in sign painting 363 

Material used- in staining 392 

Material used in stencilling 411 

Mauve tint — how made 151 

Mexican red tint — how made 151 

Mignonette tint — how made 151 

Mixing colors in scene painting 355 

Moonlight skies in scene painting 356 

Moisture — in blistering 17 

Moorish red tint — how made 151 

Moss rose tint — how made 151 

Mottling brushes (see brushes) 44 

Mountain blue — how made 152 

N 

Naphtha 290 

Navy blue tint — how made 152 

Neutral blue tint — how made 152 

Nile blue tint — how made 152 

Normandy blue tint — how made : 152 

Nut brown tint — how made 152 

Nut oil — (see oils and dryers) 287 

O 

Oak color tint — how made 152 

Oak graining — how done in oil 244 

Oak graining — how done in water colors 245 

Oak graining — how to prepare grounds for 241 

Ochres — (see colors) 121 

Oils and dryers — general remarks on 274 

Oils— fixed (the) 274 

Oil — fresco painting in 206 

Oil— gilding 221 

Oil — size for gilding 222 

Oil stains — how made 39^ 

Oil— volatile (the) 282 



Index 

Old gold tint — how made 152 

Olive tint — how made 152 

Olive brown tint — how made 152 

Opal gray tint — how made 153 

Orange tint — how made 153 

Orange brown tint — how made • 153 

Orange mineral (see colors) 124 

Oriental blue tint — how made 153 

Oriental green tint — how made 153 

Ornamenting in carriage painting 87 

Ornamenting in fresco painting 206 

Oval paint brushes (see brushes) 20 

Oval varnish brushes (see brushes) 32 

Ox hair brushes (see brushes) 47 

Oxide of iron (see colors) 115 

P 

Painters' tools — brush keepers 330 

Painters' tools — extension walking boards 340 

Painters' tools — gasoline torches 335 

Painters' tools — general remarks on 329 

Painters' tools — ladders, all kinds 336 

Painters' tools — ladder steps 330 

Painters' tools — ladder jacks 227 

Painters' tools — ladder roof 338 

Painters' tools — paint mill 332 

Painters' tools — palette knives 334 

Painters' tools — plank supporters 2iZ9 

Painters' tools — putty knives 334 

Painters' tools — sand bellows 332 

Painters' tools — scraping knives 2i:i 

Painters' tools — scaffolding 340 

Painters' tools — strainers and painters' tinware 331 

Painters' tools — swing scaffolds 336 

Painters' tools — trcssles, all kinds 340 

Painting a bath tub 294 

Painting new and old buildings, exterior 174 

Painting walls for fresco in oil 206 

Painting walls for fresco in water colors 63 



Index 

Painting walls on glass 293 

Paper hangers' tools — general remarks on 301 

Paper hangers' tools — casing knives 310 

Paper hangers' tools — cutting knives 308 

Paper hangers' tools — paste brushes 302 

Paper hangers' tools — pasting tables 301 

Paper hangers' tools — plumb bobs and levels 312 

Paper hangers' tools — rotary knives 309 

Paper hangers' tools — seam rollers 303, 304, 305 

Paper hangers' tools — smoothing brushes 306 

Paper hangers' tools — smoothing rollers 306 

Paper hangers' tools — trimming machines 307 

Paper hanging — general remarks on 313 

Paper hanging — how to clean dirty wall paper 327 

Paper hanging — how to hang borders 325 

Paper hanging — how to hang burlaps 326 

Paper, hanging — how to hang ceilings 324 

Paper hanging — how to hang muslin strips on wood 326 

Paper hanging — how to hang walls 323 

Paper hanging — how to make pastes 319 

Paper hanging — how to paste the strips 320 

Paper hanging — how to patch holes and cracks in plaster . .322 

Paper hanging — proper conditions for 321 

Paper hanging — how to trim paper with knives 323 

Paper hanging — how to trim paper with machine 323 

Paris Green — (see colors) 127 

Peach blossom tint — how made 153 

Pearl tint — how made I53 

Peacock blue tint — how made IS3 

Pea green tint — how made IS3 

Persian orange tint — how made 153 

Pigments — (see colors) 95 

Pink tint — how made i S3 

Pistache tint — how made I53 

Plumbago — (see colors) 132 

Plum color tint — how made IS3 

Polishing brush for wax (see brushes) 40 

Pompcian blue tint — how made I53 

Pompeian red tint — how made ' IS4 

Poppy seed oil — (see oil and dryers) 286 



Index 

Porphyry stone — how imitated 27: 

Portland stone tint — how made 154 

Pouring back varnish — (see varnishing) 216 

Preparing rooms for stencilling 413 

Price lists for painting, glazing, graining, marbling 165 

Priming new buildings 174 

Purples in scene painting 355 

Purity of tone in colors — how tested for 159 



Quaker green tint — how made 154 

R 

Recipes for making oil stains 396 

Recipes for making spirit stains 397 

Recipes for making water stains 399 

Red colors — American vermillion 118 

Red colors — Chinese vermillion 119 

Red colors — English vermillion 118 

Red colors — general remarks on 115 

Red colors — lakes 121 

Red colors — imitation vermillions 120 

Red colors — Indian reds 116 

Red colors — oxide of iron (red) 115 

Red colors — Pompeian 116 

Red colors — red lead .' 118 

Red colors — Tuscan •. 117 

Repainting — bath tubs 294 

Round paint bristle brushes (see brushes) 28 

Roan tint — how made 154 

Robins' egg blue tint — how made 154 

Rocks, stones, etc., in scene painting 356 

Roof ladder hooks — (see painters' tools) 338 

Rosewood — how grained 243 

Roughstuflf in carriage painting 82 

Rubbing rough stuff 83 

Russet tint — how made 154 

Russian grey tint — how made 154 



Index 



S 



Sable — black and red brushes (see brushes) 26 

Sage green tint — how made 154 

Salmon tint — how made ; 154 

Sand bellows (see painters' tools) 155 

Sap green tint — how made 155 

Sapphire blue tint — how made 155 

Sash tool — (see brushes) 34 

Scaffolding in calcimining 63 

Scaffold jacks (see painters' tools) ^il 

Scale test — in adulteration of paint 10 

Scarlet tint — how made 155 

Scene painting — brick tint in 357 

Scene painting — cloud tint in 356 

Scene painting — dead leaf tint in 356 

Scene painting — foliage green tint in 355 

Scene painting — foliage distant tint in 356 

Scene painting — fire reflection tint in 356 

Scene painting — general remarks on 343 

Scene painting — gold tone tint in 356 

Scene painting — grass green tint in 357 

Scene painting — laying out designs in scene painting 353 

Scene painting — location for 344 

Scene painting — material use 1 in 355 

Scene painting — mixing colors for 347 

Scene painting — moonlight tint in 356 

Scene painting — purple tint in 355 

Scene painting — rock stone, etc., tints in 350 

Scene painting — sea water, tints in 356 

Scene painting — sky, tints in 355 

Scene painting — tools used in 34iS 

Scene painting — trunks of trees, tints in 357 

Scraping knives in paper hanging 33o 

Scrub brush (see painters' tools) 34 

Sea green tint — how made I55 

Sea brown tint — how made I5S 

Seal brown tint — how made I55 

Secondary colors — what they are 136 

Serpentine marble — how imitated 267 

Sky blue tint — how made I55 



Index 

Shrimp pink tint — ^how made 155 

Siennas, raw and burnt (see colors) 129 

Signs in carriage painting 87 

Sign painting — advertising 386 

Sign painting — bulletin 387 

Sign painting — general remarks on 359 

Sign painting gold — general remarks on 378 

Sign painting gold — on glass 383 

Sign painting gold — on wood and other surfaces 379 

Sign painting — material used in 363 

Sign painting — muslin 382 

Sign painting — tools used in 363 

Sign painting — shading the letters 364 

Sign painting — spacing the lettering 365 

Slate tint — how made 155 

Smoothing paper hangers' brush (see brushes) 306 

Snuff color tint — how made 155 

Spoke brush (see brushes) 34 

Spruce yellow tint — how made 155 

Statuary painting — general remarks on 297 

Statuary painting — how to prepare for it 298 

Statuary painting — how to do the painting 299 

Step ladders (see painters' tools) 330 

Stains and staining — general remarks on 390 

Stains and staining — recipes for water stains 399 

Stains and staining — recipes for oil stains 396 

Stains and staining — recipes for spirit stains 397 

Stains and staining — how to stain in oil, water or spirit 393 

Stains and staining — various methods of 392 

Stains and staining — what grained staining is 392 

Stains and staining — why wood is stained 391 

Stencils and stencilling — general remarks on 402 

Stencils and stencilling — designing of 405 

Stencils and stencilling — in water colors 412 

Stencils and stencilling — in oil colors 412 

Stencils and stencilling — how to cut 410 

Stencils and stencilling — material used in 411 

Stencils and stencilling — preparing rooms for 4^3 

Stencils and stencilling — stencil paper — how prepared 411 

Stencils and stencilling — tools used in 410 



Index 

Stencils and stencilling — where chiefly used 403 

. Stipling — in flat painting 205 

Stipling — in walnut graining 258 

Stone color and yellow drab tints — how made 155 

Straw tint — how made 155 

Strength of colors — how to test for 10 

Striping — in carriage painting 87 

Sublimed lead (see colors) 107 

Surfaces — in calcimining 62 

Surfaces— ^what they are 63 

Swedish porphyry — how imitated 271 

Swing scaffolds — (see painters' tools) 336 

Swiss porphyry — how imitated 271 

Sycamore — how grained 257 

T 

Tally-ho tint — how made 156 

Tampico — (see brushes) 27 

Tan color tint — how made 156 

Terra cotta tint — how made 156 

Tertiary colors — what they are 136 

Tints — how made from oil colors 140 

Tints — how made from water colors 142 

Tools used in fresco painting t . . 21 1 

Tools used in graining 243 

Tools used in painting 230 

Tools used in paper hanging 301 

Tools used in staining 390 

Tools used in stencilling 410 

Tools used in varnishing 432 

Tub (bath) — how to repaint 294 

Turquoise blue tint — how made 156 

Turpentine — in oils and dryers 289 

Tuscan red — (see colors) 117 

Transfers — in carriage painting 87 

Tressles — see painters' tools 340 

Trimming wall paper with knives 323 

Trimming wall paper with machine 323 

Trunks of trees tint in scene painting 357 



Index 

V 

Vandyke brown — (see colors) 129 

Various methods of staining , 200 

Varnish brushes bristle, oval and flat (see brushes) 26 

Varnish brushes badger hair (see brushes) 26 

Varnish brushes black and red sable (see brushes) 26 

Varnish brushes camel hair (see brushes) 27 

Varnish brushes ox hair (see brushes) 26 

Varnishing — conditions for good 428 

Varnishing — general remarks on 426 

Varnishing — how to arrange rooms for 430 

Varnishing — how to arrange shops for .429 

Varnishing — pouring back varnish in can 432 

Varnishing — tools needed in 432 

Vehicles — fixed oils 272 

Vehicles — general remarks on 436 

Vehicles — glues and adjuncts 438 

Vehicles — gum arabic 477 

Vehicles — japans and varnishes 437 

Vehicles — oil of lavender 97 

Vehicles — spirits 98 

Vehicles — turpentine 283 

Vehicles — volatile oils 282 

Venetian red (see colors) nS 

Vermillion — American (see colors) 118 

Vermillion — Chinese (see colors) iiQ 

Vermillion — English (see colors) 118 

Vermillion — imitation (see colors) 120 

Verd antique marble — how imitated 264 

Vienna Crown tint — how made 156 

Virwian ( see colors) 127 

Violet tint — how made 156 

Vitrifying colors in china painting 98 

W 

Wall decoration, highlight oil-color method 441 

Walls — right condition for calcimining 63 

Walls — right condition for paper hanging 321 

Walls — paint brushes (see brushes) 31 

Walls — stippler (see brushes) 30 



Index 

Walking board extension — see painters' tools 340 

Water color stencilling — how done 412 

Water green tint — how made 156 

Water stains — ^how made 399 

Washing off old paper in paper Hanging 314 

Wax floor polishing brushes (see brushes) 40 

White baryta (see colors) 103 

White earths — aluminous (see colors) 103 

White earths — cretaceous (see colors) 103 

White earths — silicious (see colors) 104 

White lead — general remarks on 105 

White lead — how made 105 

White lead — how to test for adulteration 10 

White and light tints in enameling 208 

White veined marble — how imitated 271 

Why paint blisters 18 

Willow green tint — how made 156 

Wine color tint — how made 156 

Wooden buildings new — how to paint I74 

Wooden buildings old — how to paint 190 

Y 

Yellows — chrome (see colors) 122 

Yellows — general remarks on (see colors) 121 

Yellows — ochres (see colors) 121 

Yellows — other yellows (see colors) 124 

Yellow bronze tint — how made i57 

Z 

Zinc green (see cobalt green in colors) 125 

Zinc white — American (see colors) 112 

Zinc white — French (see colors) no 

Zinc white — general remarks on (see colors) 108 

Zinc white— its uses (see colors) 109 

Zinz white— in enamelling 208 



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